A New Age
by Northern Goshawk
Summary: When a new corporation arises, bent on exploiting Bakugan, the original Battle Brawlers must come together once more to defeat this new villainous threat, but there must be more to it than the eye meets. On top of that, a mysterious brawler with a never-before-seen attribute is thrown into the mix. Rated T for violence
1. Prologue

**A/N So. . . since I can't think of anything for _When Family Matters_ (a MCSM story), I decided to try some other category of story. . .**

**Not saying that I'm giving up on WFM, per say, just trying a different direction**

**Now, before we jump into this story, here's a bit of background info:**

**This story takes place 3 years after the events of Mechtanium Surge, and a lot has happened since then. The gameplay for Bakugan will be the new version that Battle Planet provides, which is the drome and the BakuCores.**

**This story mixes in some old elements from the legacy show and new elements from the reboot. No, this is not a crossover.**

**I don't own anything from **_**Bakugan Battle Brawlers**_ **or **_**Bakugan Battle Planet**_ **apart from some OCs and attributes (you'll see later). I'm sure I only have to say this one time, and one time only.**

**SPOILER ALERT! (sort of, maybe. I didn't _really_ watch through all four seasons of this series, but I'm writing this story anyways!)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey, no fair!"

The kid glared at his opponent with as much force as he could muster. The other teen, Jaxon, merely laughed, delighted at the young kid's reaction.

"That's what you get for brawling against the best," he bragged, his eyes gleaming with self-satisfaction.

The kid sent one last scowl towards the teen before scooping up his Bakugan and stomping away.

The teen sneered, leaning against a lamppost as he watched his defeated opponent leaving the battlefield. "Stupid kid," he muttered, shaking his head and grinning to himself. "Who does he think he is, tryna beat the best."

"Who do you think _you_ are?"

Jaxon jumped, whirling around to face the stranger.

The stranger's face was covered by a dark gray skull mask with a blue crescent on their forehead, horns jutting out of their temples and curling from their jawline, and blue eyehole visors that were tinted, their voice harshly filtered through the mask.

They wore a jacket that was gray with blue stripes that ran from their shoulders to the cuff of their sleeve. A logo was imprinted on the left side of their chest - something that looked almost like an attribute symbol, but not. They were wearing standard dark sweatpants and sneakers. The hilt of a sword peeked out from behind their back.

Jaxon stared, disoriented for a moment, before realizing that he shouldn't look weak. He sneered. "The name's Jaxon," he boasted, thumping a hand to his chest. "And who might _you_ be?"

The stranger didn't respond. Instead, they withdrew a hand from their pocket. Nestled in their palm was a clear-plastic ball, highlighted with - much to Jaxon's confusion - lightning-blue with cyan highlights.

"You up for a battle?" they proposed.

"You're on!" Immediately, Jaxon produced his Pyrus Bakugan, grinning madly. _This is gonna be easy._

The stranger thrust their fist into the air. "Drome up!" The iridescent dome began solidifying all around the park, leaving only the masked stranger and Jaxon within the area.

"Your move." The stranger beckoned at the teen.

"Bakugan brawl!" Jaxon cried, flinging his Pyrus bakugan into the field, deliberately aiming for a core that he _knows_ will give him the advantage.

The red ball rolls up to a BakuCore before unlocking its ball form. Jaxon smiled to himself. _Let the fun begin._ "Fangzor, stand!"

There was a great flash of red light, and from the depths emerged a Bakugan that bears a resemblance to a cobra. It hissed angrily, flapping its hood wide open.

The stranger didn't seem to react at all, much to Jaxon's confusion. _Most_ people would've either scoffed or had a look of terror (the latter the more likely of the two). But this. . . this was something he _didn't_ expect.

Instead, the stranger took out their hand from within their cloak and flicked their wrist. A lightning-blue bakugan flew out, hitting one of the hexagonal BakuCores.

"Orenor, stand!" A Bakugan shot up into the air. At first, Jaxon thought it was some sort of ribbon-like thing; it was moving so fluidly, he could hardly see it clearly. Only when it stilled momentarily was when he could see it clearly.

Jaxon could only gap at the creature before him. It was a snake-like dragon, similar to the Chinese pictures that he's seen before. Its long, elegant snout was offset by the burning coals that were its eyes. Its claws were razor-sharp, and its horns stuck up threateningly as it hissed at Fangzor. This creature was lightning-blue with streaks of neon blue, which was nothing he's seen before.

Jaxon stumbled back, his confidence wavering. _What is this? How can I beat them if I don't even know what attribute they are?_ He glanced towards the stranger. When he looked at them, he inadvertently thought of what their face must look like underneath that mask. Fury swept through him as he pictured their smug face.

"Fangzor, attack!" he uttered, pointing towards the oriental dragon. Fangzor responded immediately, striking forward with the speed of lightning.

But the stranger was just as quick. They drew a card at the same time and shouted, "Ability, activate! Lightning Breath!"

The Orenor inhaled deeply as Fangzor gained ground on it. The foreign Bakugan fired onto Fangzor. Lightning bolts jumped onto the snake, and Fangzor shrieked, writhing in pain, before disappearing in a flash of light back into a ball.

Jaxon gasped. "What? That's impossible." A flicker of fear ignited in his chest, but he fought it down desperately. _There's no way. . ._

The stranger didn't react at all, instead grabbing their Bakugan as it flew back to them. "Your move again," they simply said.

Another swath of rage washed over him as Jaxon pictured the self-satisfied expression inside the mask. "You think you're so tough, do you? Well, Bakugan brawl!"

A Pyrus bakugan, again, rolled onto a BakuCore. "Kelion, stand!"

The horse-like creature leaped up from the BakuCore. Jaxon grinned wickedly. _That'll stop them for sure._ He glanced over and yelped in shock, scurrying backwards.

The stranger had released their second Bakugan while Jaxon was gloating in his head. This second Bakugan was a huge hawk-like creature, its wingspan easily 50 feet long from wingtip to wingtip. Its glaring cyan eyes pierced his very core, leaving nothing but fear in his chest.

_What in the -_ "Ability activate!" Jaxon yelled, his gaze fixed on the hydra-like creature. He wanted to look away, needed to look away, _but he couldn't why couldn't he look -_ "Inferno cannon!"

At the same time, his opponent flung out their ability card whilst shouting, "Lightning Shield!"

Kelion breathed in deeply before opening his maw, flames shooting forth. The hawk crossed its wings in front of itself, and a wall of lightning burst to life in front of it. The fire dissipated harmlessly as soon as it touched the lightning. Meanwhile, the electrical shield seemed to glow brighter the more flames made contact.

"What…" Jaxon breathed. He glanced at the stranger, who remained impossible to read. _Who _is _this person?_

Once the stream of fire stopped, the lightning weaved around the opponent's Bakugan. The hawk threw back its head and shrieked with so much force that Jaxon clapped his hands over his ears. He watched, awed, as the creature's eyes glowed even brighter.

"Ability, activate!" came the resounding stranger's cry. "Speed Bolt!"

The Bakugan stiffened so much that it was akin to an arrow. With an almighty shriek, it dive-bombed Kelion. Jaxon watched in horror as it tore through his second Bakugan, leaving nothing but a ball in its wake.

The stranger still didn't react at all, merely receiving their Bakugan again.

Now desperate, Jaxon uttered a cry: "Bakugan brawl!" while flinging his last Bakugan into the field. "Gillator, stand!"

From a flash of light emerged a reptilian, alligator-like creature that snarled at the stranger. "_You want me to tear into them, boss?"_ he prompted.

"Yeah, but be careful," Jaxon urged. "They have some powerful Bakugan."

"_That's strange. . ."_

"What?"

"_The attribute your opponent is using. . . it's nothing I've ever seen before."_

"What?" Dread made his stomach heavy. Jaxon glanced towards the stranger. Gillator was one of the most old Bakugan ever. If Gillator couldn't figure out what attribute this stranger was using. . .

"Forget it," he said, shaking off his own uneasiness. "We need to beat them right here, right now."

"_As you wish."_

"Bakugan brawl!" The stranger's voice prompted Jaxon to look up as the last Bakugan, this time clear with lightning-blue and cyan highlights. He had never seen _this_ type of Bakugan before. "Thundrus, stand!"

There was a great flash of cyan light, and the Bakugan shot into the air. Jaxon's stomach dropped when he registered what that thing was.

It was a bird-like creature, similar to the hawk-like creature from before, except it _towered_ over everyone. It had three pairs of wings running down its back, each pair getting smaller the closer it got to the tail. There were feathers that stuck up on its flat head, giving it a horned look. Its tail weren't tail feathers, but an actual tail that split into two as it tapered out.

"What. Is. _That?_"

"_I don't know, but I suspect it's powerful,"_ Gillator informed Jaxon.

"Well, we can take it!" Jaxon tried for a confident note in his voice. He suspected he failed, but it didn't matter anymore. He drew a card. "Ability activate! Lava Lash!"

Gillator opened his jaw, and a whip made of liquid fire shot out, and Gillator charged towards Thundrus, his whip twisting through the air as it wrapped around Thundrus' left ankle. The bird let out a pained shriek as it crashed to the ground.

"Hah! Go get 'em, Gillator!" Jaxon let out a whoop. _Finally, I'm winning!_

But his victory was short-lived. "Evolution card activated! Fulminus Titan Thundrus!"

The card was thrown, and it merged with the huge bird. The bird threw back its head and let out an almighty screech as it glowed.

"What's happening?" Jaxon threw up his arms in a feeble attempt to stave off the blinding light.

"_It's. . . evolving!"_

_But that's impossible!_ Jaxon thought. No one can use a card to evolve their Bakugan!

But it just happened. Facing off against a newly-evolved Bakugan whose B-power was greater than Gillator's, Jaxon realized that there was no way he'd stand up to Thundrus.

Apparently Gillator thought so too. "_Jaxon. . ."_ Gillator sounded resigned. "_This battle is over."_

_It can't be!_ In all his years of battling, Jaxon has _never_ lost for a very, very long time. Sure, he had lost a couple of times, but it was never as swift of a defeat as it was now.

The bird-like Thundrus dove towards Gillator, its eyes burning with determination. There was a bright flash of light, a huge roar that temporarily shut down Jaxon's ears. . . and then nothing.

Jaxon fell to the ground, staring at his hands, which nestled Gillator. He wasn't aware of anything, except for his whirling thoughts, repeating over and over again: _I lost._

"You put up a good fight." Jaxon glanced up to see the masked stranger gazing down on him. Indignance surged through him, and he shot to his feet.

"Are you mocking me?" he demanded, his vision going red with anger. _How dare this stranger just show up and mock me!_

The stranger tilted their head. "Feisty. Not the one needed to save the universe."

"Huh?" Jaxon stared at them, puzzled. _Save the universe? What - wait. . ._ "Are you talking about the corporation, AAANIMUS Inc.?"

The clear ball jumped onto the stranger's shoulder and unfolded, revealing a bird-like creature with four wings. Thundrus. His cold voice washed over Jaxon. "_This is so much more than a mere corporation. Gillator, you've sensed the imbalance, have you not?"_

Gillator opened on Jaxon's shoulder. "_Yes."_ His voice became much graver. "_Is this about New Vestroia?"_

"_Much worse than that."_ Thundrus' voice became dark. "_So much worse."_

"Then what is it all about?" Jaxon demanded, stepping towards the stranger. He saw his face reflecting off of their visors. He tried to appear threatening. "Tell me!"

"I would," the stranger said, not sounding the least bit intimidated at all, "except your attitude today proves that you are not fit to be in the Battle Brawlers."

"_What?_" Jaxon got into the stranger's face, his vision clouded with rage, and he jabbed a finger towards the stranger. "Listen here, you little punk! I'm the best Pyrus Brawler out there! Who are _you_ to tell me if I can or can't be in the Bakugan Brawlers!"

"This outburst just proves your incompetence," the stranger pointed out, their voice sharp. "You put your need to win above even your own teammates. If you continue down this path," they concluded, turning away, "then you have spelled doom for everyone."

"Why you little -" Jaxon lunged towards the stranger. Suddenly, a blinding pain erupted all over his body. He shrieked in pain, falling to the ground and writhing. Distantly, he heard Gillator yelling out in pain too.

Jaxon glanced up at the stranger, his vision a haze of pain. "Who - who _are_ you?"

The stranger glanced back over their shoulder. "That's for me to know and for you to find out."

There was a sudden gust of wind, as well as a blinding light that forced Jaxon to lower his head in order to avoid being blinded. When he raised his head again, the stranger was gone.

"What was _that_ all about, Gillator?" he wondered, glancing at his partner.

Gillator was silent for a moment. "_I think,"_ he began, his voice dark, "_that we are all in trouble."_

* * *

"What's the update on AAANIMUS?"

"As of right now?" Marucho kept his eyes glued to the screen. "I'm getting nothing."

Shun frowned, puzzled. It seemed as though the huge corporation, which for _months_ had been advertising its use of Bakugan for its own personal gain, had suddenly _vanished_. Sure, there were reps that gave big speeches, but as for activity? Nothing.

"That doesn't _mean_ there's nothing going on," Shun reminded Marucho. At age 22, Shun had grown significantly, in size as well as maturity. His long hair still hung down, a trademark that he wouldn't give up even as he grew up.

At 20, Marucho had grown, but he was still short in stature for his age. His features had matured along to fit his age, but his voice was the same trademark voice he has had.

"I know," Marucho conceded, "but unless we know what _exactly_ is happening, there's nothing we can do."

This Shun agreed on.

Just then, a ping from Marucho's screen diverted Shun's attention. "Incoming call from Jaxon," Shun noted. A mixture of frustration and annoyance burst in his chest. Though Jaxon was a valuable member of the team, he was just as, if not more, arrogant than Dan had been. He was keen on picking a fight with anyone and everyone.

He was a good Pyrus brawler, Shun'll give him that, but he could never replace Dan.

Just thinking about his childhood friend sent a barrage of thoughts that Shun didn't want to think. They came anyways, like a tide that had been barricaded for too long.

After the tournament, Dan just up and vanished. No one knew where he was, and no one knew where he decided to go.

When Kato had brought them the news, everyone was, understandably, devastated. For weeks, they all wondered why he had left without so much as a goodbye, only a, "We'll be back in no time!"

They had all hoped. Weeks turned to months, which turned to a year, which then turned to two years. Still nothing.

Little by little, everyone adopted a normal lifestyle without Dan. There were small skirmishes that needed to be settled from Bakugan brawls, but other than that, the times were peaceful.

But Dan Kuso had ripped a hole in their team that, no matter how hard Shun tried to fix, would never be repaired.

That's why he decided to enlist Jaxon to the team. A bright, promising Pyrus brawler, he showed the skill that the best needed to be on the Battle Brawlers.

Shun shook himself out of these thoughts as Jaxon's face came into view on the screen. The first thing he noticed, with concern, were the scorch marks dotting the young boy's face. "Jaxon? What happened?"

"Something weird happened today, Shun," Jaxon reported. "I was out in the park, honing my battling skills, when this masked stranger showed up."

A shiver inadvertently went down Shun's spine.

"They challenged me to a brawl, and I lost. Can you believe that?"

Shun frowned. That's _what he wanted to call about? _"So? People lose all the time, Jaxon."

"Nah." Jaxon shook his head. "Not me."

A growl erupted from Shun's throat. _That imbecile thinks he can just call and brag about his winning streak?_ "Are you done, Jaxon?"

"Actually, no," Jaxon conceded. "This new stranger used an attribute that I've never seen before."

Shun frowned, annoyance crawling up his throat. Luckily, Marucho interjected before Shun could lash out with a snark. "What do you mean, an attribute you've never seen before?" the young blond questioned. "You either have Aquos, Pyrus, Haos, Darkus, Subterra, or Ventus. Are you sure that the stranger didn't have one of those attributes?"

"They _definitely_ didn't have any of them," Jaxon said. "And they said something weird, something I think you guys should hear."

"What is it?" Shun asked.

"They said something about 'saving the universe' and that 'there's more to it than a corporation,' " Jaxon said, using finger quotes. "Oh, and they also said something about me being unfit to be in the Battle Brawlers. Can you _believe_ that?"

_I'm beginning to believe it by the second._ Shun shook that thought away. "What attribute were they using?"

Jaxon spread his arms open. "How should _I_ know? They were using lightning to blind me all the time!"

_Lightning?_ Meeting Marucho's gaze, Shun could see his own confusion reflected in the Aquos brawler's eyes. The closest Shun could guess as an attribute was Ventus, but not even Ventus used lightning as a primary attack.

"Alright, Jaxon, that's good enough for now," Shun said, trying to dismiss the Pyrus brawler.

Jaxon frowned. "But -"

"Also, what were you doing in the park?" Marucho questioned, frowning at the Pyrus brawler. "We didn't initiate any training."

Now it was Jaxon who was fidgeting. "I, ah. . ."

"You were battling kids again, weren't you?" Shun deadpanned. Jaxon flushed violently, which was answer enough.

Shun heaved a great big sigh, pressing his fingers to his forehead to ease the headache that had developed. "Jaxon, we've talked about this. You can't just go around battling kids and gloating over them. We're the _Brawlers_, not the _Dominators._"

Jaxon's face twisted in childish petulance. "You can't tell me what to do! You're not the boss of me, since my rank is the same as yours!"

_Spirits._ Jaxon was _definitely_ more arrogant than Dan had been. Sadly, though, Jaxon had a point: he _is_ the same rank as them: a Master.

When Dan disappeared off the face of the planet, Shun turned the Bakugan Battle Brawlers HQ into a training center for new players to join. First, they must be chosen, and, depending on their attribute, are trained under the care of a master.

With Dan gone, Jaxon had taken over as a Pyrus Master and works alongside Chan Lee; Shun himself and Komba are Ventus Masters; Marucho and Klaus are the Aquos Masters; Julio and Runo are the Haos Masters; Alice is the Darkus Master, though she doesn't usually bring out her Bakugan; and Julie and Billy are the residents' Subterra Masters.

"No, we can't," Shun acknowledged, a bitter taste in his mouth as he forced the words through. "But this is your second strike, Jaxon."

Jaxon's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"I would," Shun growled. "One more, and then you're kicked out of here."

Jaxon narrowed his eyes spitefully, but he snarled, "Fine." The display with his face on it disappeared.

Marucho was looking at Shun, concerned. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Shun?"

Shun puffed out a breath. "He gets on my nerves a lot more than Dan ever did, Marucho. He shouldn't be here. He's good, yes, but he's not _Dan_."

Marucho was looking distinctly uncomfortable, his eyes darting to the doorway to make sure that nobody could hear them. Ever since Dan disappeared, none of them had been the same, especially Runo. She would snap at anyone who mentioned his name before disappearing in her room for days at a time.

But to Shun. . . this felt like losing his mom all over again. He couldn't bear it, pretending that his longtime childhood friend was nonexistent. It was like pretending his mom didn't exist after she had died. That. . . that didn't sit right with him.

"But Shun. . ." Marucho's voice interjected on Shun's thoughts. "Dan's missing. We don't know where he is. What if. . . what if something happened to him? Or worse, what if. . ." Marucho swallowed hard, glancing down, but Shun thought he saw a tear make its way down his face. "What if he doesn't _want_ to come back to us?"

_That_ was a punch to the gut, even more so than the death of his mother. Shun stated with authority, "He's not dead. I just know it." And he does. He believes with his whole heart that Dan wouldn't just kick the bucket.

"Then why hasn't he come back?" Marucho lifted his mournful eyes to meet Shun's. Shun realized with a start that Marucho had also been mourning the disappearance of Dan, but he's kept it so well hidden that nobody had noticed. "If he was alive, then he would be _here_, wouldn't he? He's _Dan._ Nothing can stand in his way."

Shun swallowed back a painful lump in his throat. "I don't know, Marucho," he said simply. "I just don't know."

As he sat there, wondering, a vivid image popped up in his head: of Dan, in the little sailboat, headed towards the east.

_East. . ._

Shun stood up abruptly, startling Marucho. "Hey, Marucho, can you cover things here?" Shun asked as he began walking out the door.

"What?"

"I need to go on a little. . . trip."

"What? What trip? To where?"

Shun paused at the doorway, glancing only once back towards Marucho. "I'm gonna pay a friend of ours a little visit."

Marucho paused, comprehension dawning on his features. He gave a resigned sigh before looking at Shun. "Runo's not gonna be happy, is she?"

"No," Shun agreed, his lips twitching as he pictured the blue-haired girl. "No, she's not."


	2. Back to the Start

Kai Kruso, 21, was closing up his shop in Firewell City.

"Thanks for the cards, Mister Kai!" one of the kids called out as the group ran back outside, the sun long under. "You're the best!"

"No problem!" Kai chuckled to himself. "See ya!"

_Kids these days._ Only a slight tinge of sadness tainted his thoughts, but he dismissed it. He made his decision a long time ago.

As Kai locked the door of his shop, he felt a tingle of anticipation run down his spine. _Someone was watching him._ Hey, working late at night tended to be. . . unsafe. He still had a scar to prove it. Luckily, he learned to be more alert, more aware of his surroundings.

Kai whirled around, eyes narrowed as he searched the empty streets, trying to seek out the cause of his discomfort. Just as he expected, there was nobody.

Still, that didn't ease his intuition, something he's picked up off the streets at night: _someone was close by._ He just _knew_ it.

_But this time, it could mean nothing._

Kai didn't buy that. He just _knew_ something was up. Keeping his senses open, he walked as quickly as he could towards his apartment complex. All the while, there were flashes of _Danger!_ ringing in his head, but every time he turned, there was no one there.

Finally, _finally_, he reached his apartment room. He pulled out his keys when a flash of _DANGER! _rang in his head. Now completely on-edge, Kai opened his door and turned on the lights, only breathing a sigh of relief when he saw there was no one there.

Or so he thought.

"Dan."

Kai felt himself stiffen, but he couldn't bring himself to turn. "I don't go by that name anymore," he managed through a locked jaw.

"No? Then you go by. . . Kai Kruso?" Sarcasm laced his usually-deadpan voice. "Quite the imaginative name, isn't it."

"What do you want from me. . ." Dan whirled to see the _last_ face he thought he would see again. ". . . _Shun?_"

Shun kept his eyes on something in his hands, his features impassive. "From you? Nothing. Of you? Well. . ." He placed a photo that Dan hadn't even noticed he had back onto a shelf. With a jolt, Dan realized that it was a picture of him, Shun, Julie, Marucho, Runo, and Alice when they were 12.

"_Is that _Shun _I hear?"_ Drago shot out of Dan's pocket, hovering in the air to get a good look himself. Evolved once more, Drago was now Drago Ultra, and his body was a lot more like how his actual Bakugan form is.

Shun offered Drago a grim smile. "Nice to see you too, Drago." He raised an eyebrow. "And with a new look, too."

"What is this all about?" Dan demanded. He realized he was extremely tense, but he couldn't help it; being jumped tends to do that to a person.

Shun finally, _finally_, turned to face him for the first time. His eyes widened slightly, taking in Dan's face.

Dan knew what Shun was looking. "Like it?" Dan joked, his voice unintentionally dark, tracing the scar that ran over his right eye. "It was a present from, ah, a gang. Used Bakugan on me. Barely made it out."

"Dan. . ." Shun's tone was shocked. Really, who could blame him? There were many ways to play Bakugan, but there was an unspoken rule: never use Bakugan on humans.

"Forget it, Shun. I don't do that anymore, and you know it." Dan turned away, a rush of frustration, annoyance, and. . . regret? permeating his heart.

"_Dan, I think you need to hear Shun out, just this once,"_ Drago said, intervening.

Dan didn't say anything, just made a _go on_ gesture without turning around again.

He heard Shun sigh. "Look, I know that you don't want to battle anymore, but. . . Dan. . ." Shun seemed to struggle for a moment with his words. "We miss you. We _all_ do. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't."

For a moment, Dan wavered in his conviction. _They. . . miss me?_ Dan shook his head. "You guys don't need me as much. There must be a _lot_ of people that reached the rank as number one player, right? Why don't you ask them?"

"We _did_." Dan turned, shocked at Shun's admittance, and he met Shun's gaze, which had reverted from its normal impassiveness to clear urgency. "We even trained a Pyrus brawler and made him a master in the hopes that he would. . ."

"Replace me," Dan finished, a cold feeling sweeping over him. But why did _he_ care? He gave that up a long time ago, didn't he?

Shun nodded, looking slightly sheepish. "But Dan. . . the Brawlers are a _mess_ without you."

"Without _me?_" Dan asked, surprised. He didn't exactly. . . expect _that_ to be what drove Shun to find him.

Shun scowled, as if knowing exactly what Dan had been thinking. "_Yes_ you!" he snapped. "Look. . ." He sighed, as if wondering how far to push. "Dan, Julie hasn't exactly been the same, bubbly self she was before you disappeared. Marucho had been grieving - actually _grieving_ \- when you went and disappeared. Alice is a lot sadder than I've seen her be. And Runo. . ."

Something in Dan hardened. He willed his jaw to unlock, willing his mouth to form words. "And Runo?"

Shun let out a dark bark of laughter, surprising even Dan. The latter exchanged a nervous glance with Drago, whose aura pulsed with alarm. "For the first three months you were gone, Runo would snap at _anyone_ who would even mention your name. We've taken such care to stop mentioning you to avoid a punch to the head."

A feeble chuckle made its way out of Dan's mouth. "That. . . sounds like her." Even so, he couldn't help but listen in almost-horror.

She's tried to move on, she really did, but. . . Dan, it's like a part of her died the day you left." Shun shook his head. "She's a shell of who she was."

Dan was silent, trying to absorb the information. "Is - is she. . . alright? Now, I mean?" he asked, almost timidly.

Shun's voice was cold, emotionless. "She's dating Jaxon, the Pyrus Master."

"Oh." Dan wasn't sure whether or not he should feel betrayed or just sad about the circumstances. But given what Shun was telling him, he pretty much deserved it.

"But I wouldn't say she was okay." Shun shook his head, barking out a dark laugh.

_I - I did this to them._ "But you're the leader," Dan countered. "You can keep them together, couldn't you?"

Shun spread his arms out. "Dan, there's some things a leader can't fix." His voice grew cold. "Like when your longtime friend just leaves without so much of a goodbye."

Dan, stunned, turned and stared at Shun. "Shun, I - This is the reason why I _can't_ go back. If I go back, then I just break apart the team even more."

"But you can also _fix_ the team too." There was a desperate note in Shun's voice now. If Shun was on the point of begging, then it must be serious.

And yet. . .

"_Is there something else you're not telling us, Shun?"_ Drago voiced Dan's exact thoughts.

"Well, yes." Shun sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Do you know AAAnimus Inc.?"

"That huge weapon-making company?" Dan frowned at Shun, wondering where this was going. "Of course. Who wouldn't?"

"Dan, they're _using_ Bakugan as weapons now."

"_WHAT?!_"

Both Dan and Drago were immediately in battle stances, both of them growling. "_Who do they think they are?"_ Drago thundered. "_Bakugan are not weapons!"_

"We know," Shun answered grimly, "but they don't see it that way."

Dan forced himself to take deep breaths, effectively quelling his rage into something more manageable. "So you want my help?" he asked, unable to keep the incredulity out of his voice.

"Jaxon is too incompetent to take on the task!" Shun looked as though he wanted to pull out all of his hair. "If it were up to me, he would've been fired _ages_ ago!"

Dan could only blink in surprise. "He's _that_ bad, huh."

"Yeah," Shun growled. He relaxed, as if the thought of firing Jaxon(? Was that his name?) was enough to calm him.

"_Dan, think through this carefully,"_ Drago advised. "_The lives of Bakugan are at stake here. This is just like the time Masquerade sent my friends to the Doom Dimension."_

"Speaking of Masquerade. . ."

Dan and Drago both whirled around to face Shun, who was glaring at the ground. "There's a new brawler in town," Shun informed. "Masked character, mysterious, doesn't show themselves often."

"Just like Masquerade?" Dan asked, cold dread plunging into his stomach.

"Actually, no." Shun must've sensed Dan's shock, because he added, "They seem to be helping us, in a way. They informed Jaxon - mind I add, _vaguely_ \- about this new threat."

"About AAAnimus?"

"No. About some other, deeper threat." Shun locked eyes with Dan. In his friend's brown eyes, Dan could see the ninja's desperation and urgency, all conveyed to him. "But there's something else you should know."

"What is it?"

"This new brawler. . . their attribute is something none of us have ever seen before."

Now Dan frowned, puzzled. "What do you mean? It's either Aquos, Pyrus, Ventus, Subterra, Darkus, or Haos. Nothing else."

"Yeah, that's what we _thought_. But I looked up our new friend in our databases. There's almost nothing about them."

Now an uneasy feeling stirred in Dan. _Something isn't right._ Even Masquerade's technology could track down any brawler in the world. Their stats, their attributes, everything. "Did you use Masquerade's tracking computer?"

Shun nodded. "I used it as a last resort. Even then, _nothing_."

Dan leaned against the wall, his thoughts spiraling rapidly. Something about this entire mess sounded fishy to Dan. First AAAnimus, then this masked stranger. And only three years after the rise of the Mechtogen? This couldn't be a coincidence.

"_Daniel, what is your choice?"_ Drago inquired.

Dan pondered on this new crossroads. On the one hand, he didn't want to do anything with Bakugan again; he had reached the goals he had been vying for since the beginning of the game, and there was almost no point in going back into the game.

But on the other hand, Drago was right: Bakugan were being abused by a huge corporation that didn't care about the creatures they were hurting. There was no way Dan was sitting on the sidelines and letting it happen.

And then the moment of genius.

"Howabout a deal, Shun?"

Shun raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What kind of deal?"

"I will help you, _if_ you erase all my data in the database and swear to never try and find me again, after this mess." Dan raised an eyebrow. "That _is_ how you found me, right?"

Shun was silent for a moment, studying Dan as if he wasn't sure if the red-eyed man was serious. "Clever, the way you deduced that," the ninja finally settled for, crossing his arms.

Dan shrugged and shook his head. "I should've known disappearing would be too easy."

Shun offered the barest of smiles. "What else would you expect?"

Dan blew out a breath. "So. . . is this a deal?" he asked, turning to face the Ventus brawler. "If I help you with this problem, you'll leave us - me and Drago - alone?" He held out his hand.

The ninja studied him carefully. Finally, he nodded, though he didn't look happy. "If that's what you really want," he answered simply, clasping Dan's hand in a firm grip of his own.

Dan studied Shun carefully. His childhood friend seemed stressed, burdened down by the responsibilities suddenly thrust upon his shoulders. "Anything else I should know about?"

Shun nodded. "Dan, remember the Gate Cards? The way we played it before?"

Dan nodded before catching something strange in Shun's voice. The way Shun said "played," as if. . .

"Do we not play it like that anymore?" Dan asked, not wanting to know the answer but needing to know. His heart sunk as Shun nodded slowly.

"There's. . . a lot that has happened the last time you were around, Dan. Some of the younger kids found a - a different mechanism of playing, and it grew immensely popular." Shun ran a hand through his hair. "The Gate Cards became a thing of the past, an ancient relic that only the Bakugan players of old can remember. We had to retrain ourselves to keep up with the new players. Even so. . ." Shun swallowed hard before speaking. His next words chilled Dan. "I've almost forgotten how to play the game you and I had created, so long ago."

_That_ sent a punch to Dan's gut. He stumbled inadvertently, leaning against the wall. Drago let out a gasp. "_What? But - how? You guys _created _the game! How can they change the rules, when they've stood as sacred?"_

"That's the thing. We don't know." Shun shrugged, looking miserable. "But because of this, it also meant more players being able to do whatever they wanted, with no one to stop it. We were _forced_ to relearn the mechanics of the game. As for _how_ they manage to do it. . ." Shun shrugged again. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Dan, once again, felt his heart sink. "So does that mean. . .?"

"I'm afraid so." Shun's voice was grim. "Dan, _you_ have to relearn how to play Bakugan again."

Out of all the things Dan had to hear, _this_ was the most shocking thing. _Him_, relearn Bakugan? It almost made him want to reconsider his choice to join. _But I have to, _Dan thought, looking up at Drago. _I have to, if I want to save the Bakugan._

Sometimes sacrifices must be made.

"Then I'll relearn it." Determination hardened his voice, and Dan stood to face Shun.

Shun actually smiled this time, clapping Dan on the back. "Welcome back, Dan Kuso."

"_I knew you would make the right choice, my friend."_

Dan grinned, giving Shun his trademark nose flick. "I won't let you down, Shun."

Shun nodded, smirking. "I know you won't."

* * *

**A/N So. . . other notes. Ah, yes! Drago's evolution makes his ball form look a **_**lot**_ **like Dragonoid Ultra from Armored Alliance (look it up!)**

**Also, yes, the Bakugan's G-powers converted to B-powers. Why? Well, when the new way of playing came to be, a mysterious force transformed the Bakugan's power units. Read on to find out more.**

**Also, for all ye old Bakugan fans, I haven't _actually_ watched _Gundalian Invaders_ or _Mechtanium Surge_ yet. I'm on _New Vestroia_, and the only reason why I actually know what happened in the ending was that I. . . sorta, _maybe_, read about it. But this story is kinda a fresh new start, not based off of any other adventure they've had that I haven't watched yet.**

**If you don't know what the show is about, then go check it out! (The old version, _Battle Brawlers._ I still have yet to actually, fully watch the reboot, _Battle Planet._)**

**Lastly, I meant for this omake to take place **_**after**_ **the final line of this chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Omake:**

They stood like that for a while before Dan was struck with a thought. "Wait, do they _know_ I'm coming back?"

Shun glanced at him, his lips twitching, which was answer enough for Dan.

"Runo's gonna kill me, isn't she?"

"You and me both, Kuso. You and me both."


	3. Returning Home

Dan breathed in deeply, smiling as a wave of nostalgia washed over him. _Home,_ he thought to himself, glancing at his shoulder. Drago fluttered, and Dan got the distinct impression that Drago was also hit with nostalgia.

"So?" Shun asked, coming up to them. "What'd you think about it?"

"It looks as though it barely changed at all." Dan closed his eyes, breathing in the salty air.

"_This may not be my actual home,"_ Drago said, fluttering his wings again, "_but it was where I first truly bonded with Dan. This is like my second home."_

"You said it, buddy," Dan said. He stretched out his limbs, eyeing the new Bakugan HQ.

The new facility looked _drastically_ different from the last time he had seen it. Now, the building's base had been expanded, containing what Dan assumed were the BakuTrain Simulations, which Shun had explained to him earlier.

"How many new recruits do you have?" Dan questioned, keeping his eyes closed to soak in the warmth of the sun.

"Only six so far," Shun answered. "You've heard of Jaxon, whom we promoted to Master. Then we have Killian, a Subterra brawler, Feng, a Ventus brawler, Shinto, an Aquos brawler, Kurgo, a Darkus brawler, and Fyero, a Haos brawler, who's our newest addition. Joined a month ago."

Dan now opened his eyes, shooting Shun a curious glance. "All six attributed brawlers?" he questioned. He tried for a jab to make Shun smile. "You've been busy, eh?"

Shun kept his eyes glued on the HQ. "Maybe."

Dan frowned. Shun didn't smile, not even once, the entire trip. Though it was rare to see him smile, even then it was an odd occurrence. He would've thought that Shun would've been happy to see him. If anything, Shun seemed. . . uneasy.

"Will the others be happy? To see me, I mean?" Dan asked.

Shun flicked his gaze over to the red-eyed man. In the ninja's gaze, Dan realized that Shun looked uncertain, even fearful.

But Shun answered, "They should be. Why wouldn't they?"

That's when Dan realized something. Then he wanted to kick himself. It made _so_ much more sense now, looking back at Shun's nervous, almost jumpy behavior. "You. . . _didn't_ tell them, did you?"

That's when Shun's emotional mask slammed into place. The ninja glanced at Dan, his face impassive. "What makes you say that?"

Dan shrugged. "Oh, I don't know, maybe. . . the fact that you seem a lot more jumpy than normal. You kept glancing behind you when we were boarding, as if you expected to see someone come up behind us," he added, remembering the ninja's out-of-character behavior.

Shun's shoulders sagged, confirming Dan's deduction. "Yeah," the ninja said defeatedly. "I didn't tell them."

All Dan could think about at the moment was a certain girl with blue hair. ". . . Runo's gonna kill me, isn't she?"

Shun offered a grim but amused smile. "What do you think she's gonna do to _me?_"

"Touche." Dan closed his eyes. Flashes of old memories passed behind his eyelids, reminding him of all that he had once been. First his battle against Naga. . . and then the Vexos. . . the Gundalian invaders. . . finally, the Mechtogan.

Through all his battles, he's always had his friends by his side. Especially Drago. Always Drago.

But then more faces passed through his mind's eye: Marucho, Julie, Alice, Mira, Baron, Ace, Keith, Gus, Ren, Fabia, Jake. All of them with signature moments captured in his mind, a photo book that couldn't be lost.

And Runo.

If she was the same as she had been, she was gonna _kill_ him.

And, strangely enough, he was actually looking _forward_ to seeing her again, death threat or not.

Shun shrugged. "Well, we need your help. I'm willing to risk her wrath if it meant saving the world. . . _again._"

Dan grinned. "What, am I your go-to person for preventing an apocalypse related to Bakugan?"

Shun answered by throwing a card at his face.

* * *

"Shun? You're back? Where did you go? Marucho said. . ." Julie's voice trailed off. Her eyes widened considerably, and she gasped in what Dan assumed to be shock.

Dan casually strolled up to the Subterra brawler, putting on his usual smirk. "Hey, Julie."

Looking astonished, Julie approached the Pyrus brawler almost fearfully, as if she thought he would blow away from one gust of wind. _Which I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do,_ Dan mused to himself. _I'm not _that _skinny._

"Dan. . .? Is it really you?"

Dan glanced at her. Three years had treated her well: she had grown considerably, and her features looked less girlish and more grownup. He mock-glanced around his surroundings, trying for an air of confusion. "Who else would it be?" he mock-asked, glancing back at the Subterra brawler with an eyebrow raised.

Julie's hands flew to her mouth. Tears glimmered in her eyes as she observed him. Dan realized, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, what _exactly_ she was looking at.

Julie reached out a hand, almost slowly. Dan couldn't help but flinch when her hand was mere centimeters from his face. The hand paused, almost hesitant, before it retracted. Dan lowered his head, unable to meet Julie's gaze, lest he find pity and horror in them. It had happened a long time ago; it shouldn't matter.

Suddenly, arms flung themselves around his back. Startled, Dan staggered backwards as Julie pressed her cheek against his. "I'm so happy you're back," she whispered, but her eyes contained still a hint of sadness in them.

Dan swallowed hard. "Yeah," he whispered back, awkwardly patting her back. "Me too."

Finally, Julie released him. She turned to Shun, who Dan noticed had an amused smirk on his face. "Shall I tell Runo what happened?" the ninja joked. Well, Dan _hoped_ it was a joke.

Drago popped up again on Dan's shoulder. "_Yes, that would be quite. . . amusing."_

"Drago!"

"_It's nice to see you too, Julie."_

Dan, on the other hand, felt his face flare up. There was nothing going on with him and Julie; sure, Julie had flirted with him when they were younger, but he was _pretty_ sure that it was just to get Runo into him. Julie, however, shrugged. "Runo's gonna be _so_ happy to see you!" she said cheerfully, turning to Dan. Though, just as fleetingly as it had come, her cheerfulness was replaced by a rapidly-darkening face. "Though, I _hope_ so," she added as an afterthought.

Dan groaned, rubbing his head. "You guys are just _building_ my confidence right now."

Shun shrugged. "That's what you get for disappearing for three years."

"Speaking of that. . ." Julie smacked Dan upside in the head, which took him by surprise and elicited an "Ow!" from the Pyrus brawler. "What were you _thinking?!_"

Dan blinked, slightly disoriented by her sudden aggression. "Huh whuh?" was all he managed to get out of his mouth.

"Do you know how _worried_ we were all?! You can't _do_ that! Running off and disappearing without telling us where you were!" Julie paused to suck in a breath. "And think about what you did to _Runo!_"

Dan frowned. "Hey, I have my reasons."

"Well, I _hope_ that you're gonna stay with us again!" Julie glanced at Shun, who suddenly took an interest in one of the windows that showed the inside of the BakuTrain Simulator. Her confidence seemed to waver, and she looked over at Dan. ". . . Right?"

"_Well. . . ah. . ."_ Drago began, which Dan recognized as trying to save him from the embarrassment. "_You see. . ."_

"Dan!"

A tiny figure pounced on the spiky-haired male, causing the latter to yelp in surprise and crash to the ground. Only when the tiny figure wrapped his arms around Dan did Dan realize who it was. "Marucho!"

"Dan! Oh, Dan, you're here!" Even though the Aquos brawler's voice was muffled through Dan's shirt, his sobs were unmistakable.

Looking past Marucho, Dan could see a couple other people running out: Chan Lee, Joe, Julio, Komba, Klaus, and Alice.

"Who's that?"

"Shun, you're back!"

"Why is Marucho on the ground?"

With some difficulty, Dan coaxed Marucho off of him and stood, gesturing expansively. The other brawlers halted, eyes wide open and jaws dropped. "Miss me?" He grinned.

Joe cheered. "Dan, you're back!"

Chan Lee grinned. "Nice to see you again."

Komba gaped at Shun. "_This_ was what the trip was all about?"

Alice pushed her way to the front, searching Dan's face. "Dan, is it really you?"

Dan swallowed hard before trying for a winning smile. He wasn't _close_ to Alice, per say, but he definitely considered her one of his friends. "Who else would be here to save the world from impending doom?" he joked.

Alice gasped softly, scanning his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw everyone glance over his face, and their cheerfulness evaporated quickly. Unconsciously, he lifted his hand to his scar, absently tracing over the pink-white tissue.

Suddenly, a hush settled over the crowd. Everyone, including Alice, parted for the one person Dan hadn't - but had - wanted to see after all this time.

Runo.

Dan felt his breath leave him. Even after he told - no, _berated_ \- himself to forget about her, to move on because she obviously had moved on, he couldn't help his unconscious reaction.

She was exponentially more stunning than he had last seen her. If he had thought that three years had treated Julie well, well. . . she's got nothing on Runo.

The blue-haired girl had definitely grown, even though Dan was still taller than her. Her hair was still in the same old style he knew, which only accentuated her beauty. Her facial features had simultaneously softened and hardened, making her look less like a teen and more like a young woman.

But her eyes. . . they were the same beautiful green that he had once gazed into, the same eyes he longed for, missed with every day that had passed by for three years. He had seen different elements flicker to life in those same eyes: sometimes they were an inferno, burning with passion or rage; sometimes they were filled with warmth and compassion; sometimes they were a dangerous calm, like the calm before the storm.

Right now, though her face was an icy expression, her eyes burned bright with anger.

"Dan Kuso." If he had thought that the crowds were quiet, now it was pure silence as Runo came to a stop in front him, her face icily calm as her eyes flicked to his.

When they locked eyes, a fluttering sensation erupted in Dan's chest. He had never thought that he would be able to see those flames in those eyes again.

"Runo. . ." Unconsciously, Dan reached out his hand for. . . he didn't even know himself. It was an impulse that had manifested itself from years of being around her. And this impulse is how Dan found himself staring at the sky.

Nose throbbing, head spinning, ears ringing, back aching, Dan could only blink before fists found purchase on his shirt and yanked him back up so quickly that Dan thought he might pass out. The Pyrus brawler found himself staring into Runo's enraged eyes.

Now that her mask of calmness had dropped, she looked downright _murderous._ Runo snarled, "You stupid, idiotic _doofus_ -"

At the mention of that same name that she used to call him, Dan couldn't help but chuckle. He felt Runo's fists tighten on his shirt. "What's so funny, Kuso?" she demanded.

Dan gently placed his own hands over her fists. The contact sent an electrical shock of warmth through him, and he heard Runo inhale sharply too. He looked up and gazed into the blue-haired girl's eyes, unable to do anything except smile. "I missed you too."

At those words, the flames in Runo's eyes vanished just as suddenly as they had appeared. Her eyes darted around his face, widening in shock when they met Dan's scar. "Dan. . ." she breathed, lifting her hand.

Suddenly, another guy came up and pushed Runo away, placing himself between her and Dan. Runo dropped her arm, though he noticed the way she leveled an angry glare towards the guy. "Who are you?"

Dan took a pause, scanning the guy over. The late-aged teen/young man wore a red warmup jacket, gray sweatpants, and a black T-shirt. His features were harsh, almost cruel, as he scowled at Dan.

"I could ask you the same thing," Dan retorted, folding his arms in front of his chest. He saw Runo scowl. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted that the other Brawlers suddenly looked either uncomfortable or intrigued.

"The name's Jaxon," the guy announced, thumping a hand to his chest. "Number 1 Pyrus brawler in the world!" He sneered at Dan. "Who are _you?_"

"_This one's getting on my nerves already,"_ Drago snarled, hopping up next to Dan.

Jaxon turned his leer on Drago. "Oh? And who might this be?" he mocked. "Another measly Bakugan who's trying to beat the best?"

"_Why you little - !"_

"Drago, calm," Dan soothed. He noted Shun's and Runo's confused gazes, but he kept his eyes fixed on the Pyrus brawler that Shun had complained about.

Jaxon raised an eyebrow. "So. This is the '_high and mighty'_ Drago, eh?" He turned his gaze on Dan, eyes narrowed. "So that must mean. . ."

"Dan Kuso, at your service." Dan mockingly bowed. He quirked an eyebrow. "Former number 1 Pyrus brawler as well as being _the_ number 1 brawler."

"You don't look so tough to me," was all Jaxon sneered.

Dan glanced up at him, quirking his eyebrow again. "Excuse me?"

Jaxon snickered. "You're nothing like what I had imagined. You're just a boy."

"And what makes you think I'm younger than you?" was all Dan inquired. He could tell that Jaxon was trying to bait him, but Dan had learned to keep his patience in check.

After all, that impatience was what gave him that scar in the first place.

Jaxon's sneer melted. He glared at Dan while jabbing a finger in Dan's chest. "Stay away from my girlfriend," he growled.

"Excuse me!" Runo scowled. "I think I can speak for myself, thank you very much!"

Dan regarded her for a moment, wondering what would happen if. . . "So do _you_ think I should stay away from you?" he asked Runo.

Runo blinked, taken aback. "Well, I -" she started, but then Jaxon interrupted.

"Of course she thinks you should stay away from her," he snarled.

Dan inclined his head towards the blue-haired girl, though his eyes never left Jaxon's. "I was asking her," he answered calmly. "I think she can speak for herself, don't you think?"

"Well - I -" Jaxon spluttered for a moment. "Shut it, Kuso!"

"It doesn't really matter, anyhow," Dan remarked coolly. "Once this mess has been cleaned up, you won't have to see me again."

Suddenly, he was aware of a hush that had settled over the crowd. Marucho stepped out of the crowd, his eyes desperate. "But. . . you're leaving? Again?" His broken whisper stabbed Dan in the heart, but Dan swallowed hard, purposefully avoiding looking Runo in the eye.

"I have to." Dan spread his arms out. "I don't belong here."

"_Though I do not agree with this, wherever Dan goes, I go,"_ Drago conceded.

This admission left everyone stunned, except for Jaxon, who sneered. "Great. In fact, you can go running home right now, since we don't need you!"

"I'm sorry," interjected another voice. Dan turned to see Shun glaring down at the other Pyrus brawler, "but _I'm_ the one who decided we needed Dan to solve this problem. I'm _sure_ we can all agree that Dan would be most welcome to help solve this situation, right?"

A murmur of assent swept through the ranks of the crowd. Jaxon glanced around, his fists clenched. Finally, he threw out an angry, "So bet it!" and stormed away.

Dan glanced back at Runo, who glanced, almost nervously, back towards her - _Jaxon._ Runo glanced back at him before turning back to Dan, her eyes filled with uncertainty.

Dan masked his emotions behind an impassive gaze, flicking his eyes towards all of the Brawlers, although he took the liberty to let his gaze linger on Runo. Finally, he turned to Shun. "Don't we have somewhere to be?" he asked emotionlessly.

For a brief moment, Shun's eyes flickered with something akin to. . . fear? Dan wasn't sure he read it right. Then the Ventus brawler nodded. "Let me take you up to your room," he conceded, beckoning for the Pyrus brawler to follow him.

Dan could feel Runo's gaze burning into him until the metal doors shut behind him.

* * *

Marucho gaped, eyes wide, at Dan's sudden coolness. He glanced around, gauging everyone's reactions.

Though Chan Lee, Komba, Julio, and Klaus looked unconcerned, the other Brawlers - the ones who've known Dan the longest - had some sort of reaction. Julie was conversing quietly with Alice, both whose expressions bordered on concern, and Runo was looking - almost forlornly - after Dan, her expression a mix of anger and concern.

Marucho then thought of the scar that marred the Pyrus brawler's left eye, the hollow tone of his voice, and the dark gleam in his eye.

_Dan, what happened to you?_

* * *

**A/N Hope you enjoyed the third - err, second - chapter of this new story!**

**So, this is a new thing that I decided to dabble in, and as I am a new addition to the _Bakugan Battle Brawlers_ fandom, please don't flame me. Constructive criticism is appreciated, though.**

**Please leave a review and follow if you find this story intriguing so far! If not. . . well, there's always my other story, _When Family Matters_ (note: it's a MCSM story)**


	4. Strategizing

**Response to reviews:**

**Well, it's not really needed since I replied via PM to the. . . one review this thing got.**

**Oh well.**

**Storytime!**

* * *

"To initiate a brawl," Shun instructed, "you must raise the fist holding your Bakugan up and shout, 'Drome up!' " Shun demonstrated the motion.

Dan copied the Ventus brawler. "Drome up!"

A mechanical voice reached the Pyrus brawler's ears: "_Protocol Dome initiated."_ Iridescent tiles started at the top and folded downwards until it touched the ground, where it solidified into a dome. "_Protocol Dome: affirmative. Commence brawl."_

Dan raised an eyebrow at Shun. "Nice tech," he commented appreciatively. It truly was a genius idea: a training simulation for new/chosen brawlers before they try their luck against harder opponents.

Shun smirked slightly. "It was my and Marucho's idea."

From what Dan remembered of Shun's debriefing (and truth be told, he didn't listen much to that debriefing - old habits die hard), the brawling environment wasn't a dimensional pocket where earth and Vestroia met; no, it was the _actual place where the brawlers initially challenged each other._

This was gonna be tough to adjust to.

Dan readjusted his sweaty grip on Drago. He has no idea _why_ he was anxious; after all, he's brawled a million times before, hasn't he?

_Well, yes, but no,_ a voice corrected inside his head. _You brawled the old way. You've never even _seen _how this new game is played._

_Buzzkill,_ Dan grumbled inside his head. Brownie points to his logical side for amping up his anxiety.

"You ready, Drago?"

"_Ready as I'll ever be,"_ came the dragonoid's affirmation. Unlike how Dan feels right now, Drago seemed calm and wholly determined to fight.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dan noticed movement flash by. He turned his head to see Jaxon, along with a couple new faces in the stands of the arena. Jaxon glowered at him and crossed his arms. There was a young Asian boy who was wearing blue and looking sharply aware of the training simulation. An Asian girl, who was wearing a leather jacket with the Ventus attribute symbol on it, was looking supremely bored. A third, dark-haired boy who was wearing a black T-shirt with purple highlights had a stoic air as he watched Dan. The fourth, a boy with an orange cap twisted backwards and a casual brown jacket was leaning on the back of his seat, surveying Dan with interest. The final kid looked to be younger than the others by a few years, and he wore a white hoodie with the hood pulled over his head.

Shun seemed to notice them too when Dan turned his head to look. "Just ignore them, Dan," the Ventus brawler called out. "They're the recruits."

Dan raised an eyebrow in regards to Shun's statement, but he turned his attention back to the task at hand. "So what do we do now?" he called out.

Shun's eyebrows shot up, as if surprised, before shrugging. "You throw out your Bakugan onto one of the hexagonal tiles at your feet," he replied. Though they were on opposite sides of the battlefield, Dan could hear him clearly thanks to the earpiece the Ventus ninja had provided him. "Do you see them?"

Dan glanced down at his feet. Sure enough, there were quasi-solid hexagonal tiles beneath his feet. "Yeah."

"Those are called BakuCores, and they make up the battlefield, called the Hide Matrix. You have to be careful, though. They can help enhance you, but some of them may prove to be detrimental to your Bakugan."

"English, please?" Dan heard Shun sigh at the Pyrus brawler's request.

"It means that some may help while others may hurt your chances."

_Oh._ "So it's like us throwing our Bakugan on either our Gate Cards or someone else's Gate Cards."

"Right," Shun affirmed. "Except instead of having only a couple Gate Cards, you have an entire _field_ of them."

Dan almost scoffed but caught himself. _Careful. Don't get cocky._ "Alright." He nodded towards the Ventus brawler. "D'you wanna start off?"

"Sure." Shun wound up his throwing arm. "Bakugan, _brawl!_"

Dan's eyes followed the trajectory of Shun's teal Bakugan, which came to a rest on one of the tiles. "Pyravian, stand!"

The Bakugan unfolded at Shun's command. A green light shone searingly, forcing Dan to shut his eyes against the glare. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the Bakugan was a phoenix-like creature, not unlike Shun's first Guardian Bakugan Storm Skyress.

"What is it with you and birds?" Dan asked exasperatedly. Over his earpiece, he heard Shun chuckle a little at his comment.

"Dunno. Suppose it's 'cause I miss her." The ninja's voice took up a wistful, almost sad tone. "Storm Skyress, I mean."

Dan felt his mood shift to solemnity to match Shun's tone. "I'm sorry," he muttered, and he meant it. He couldn't imagine how it would feel to part with Drago forever; he had only experienced it once, but it was the worst years of his life, only eased by the presence of his friends.

Especially Runo.

The Ventus brawler bowed his head for a moment before shaking himself. "Right, well. . ." He nodded towards Dan. "You try."

"Okay. . ." Dan raised his throwing hand, the one with Drago nestled in it. "Bakugan, _brawl!_"

Drago rolled onto one of the hexagonal tiles that they call BakuCores. "Drago, stand!"

A tornado of fire whirled to life, reminding Dan of when the dragonoid was Neo Dragonoid. When the fire cleared, there was Drago with a significantly different look.

A green gem rested in the center of his chest, with pale-tan metal-resembling scales fused to his underbelly. His appearance was a lot more tech-like, with metal-like scales plating him and black skin underneath that suspiciously resembled a robotic structure. His tail now had what looked to be an orange blade at the end.

Shun's eyebrows shot up so high Dan was surprised they didn't fall off. "Nice look, Drago," he whistled appreciatively.

"_Thanks."_ Drago glanced down at his new body. "_I think."_

"Tch." Dan shook his head, unable to keep a small smile off his face. His smile fell when he recalled just coming home from a day of work, only to find Drago's form had inexplicably changed. _Even now, I still don't know _what _caused the change,_ he mused. When he asked Drago, his partner was just as mystified.

"_Brawl commencing,"_ a female mechanical voice informed from Dan's new BakuPod. "_Ventus Pyravian Ultra: 700 B-power. Pyrus Dragonoid Ultra: 1050 B-power."_

Dan frowned, wondering if this was a typo. Drago doesn't have _that_ much power. Also, it was G-power, not "B-power". "Shun, does this mean to say 'G-power'?" he asked into the earpiece.

"That's right, I almost forgot about that. One day, mysteriously, all our Bakugan's G-power transformed into this new unit called 'B-power'. Apparently, a single unit of that is less than G-power, since an average B-power rating would be around 400-500."

"Whoa!" Dan stared down at his BakuPod. 400 and 500 was _high_ for G-power. _This is a very strange change for the game, indeed._ "So does that mean Drago's power level is good?" he asked Shun.

"Actually, yeah. It's _really_ high, even for B-powered Bakugan." Shun's voice held a hint of awe as both brawlers inspected the towering dragonoid.

"_Should I take that as a compliment?"_ Drago clearly didn't know what to do with the new information.

Dan shrugged. "Do what you want, bud."

"When you're done chit chatting, I suggest we start our training lesson now," came Shun's voice. Dan glanced over to see Shun with his arms folded over his chest, a glint of annoyance in his eyes.

"Alright." Dan resigned himself before turning to Drago. "Let's do -"

"_Shun!"_

Human and Bakugan paused, relaxing their stances as Marucho's urgent voice came over their BakuPods. "Yes, Marucho, what is it?" Only a hint of annoyance permeated Shun's voice as they both stared down at the blond boy on their screen.

"_There's trouble downtown. Three Bakugan brawlers - we're not sure who they are, but -"_

"Give me the coordinates," Shun commanded, already retrieving Pyravian and hurrying towards the training doors.

The Pyrus brawler followed Shun out. "Shun, let me help with this."

"Dan, you haven't even _learned_ how to play the game. What makes you think you can help us?" Shun's glare should've shut down the red-eyed man, but Dan only grew indignant. He couldn't explain rationally _why_ he should help, when he doesn't even know _how_ to brawl. He had an incessant tugging at his gut that he _should_.

"I'm a Battle Brawler." Dan crossed his arms. "I don't run from a fight."

"Yeah?" The intensity of Shun's glare startled even him. "Where were you, then, when the whole Mechtogan business was finished?"

Dan's temper began flaring up, but he took a deep breath. _Calm yourself._ The last thing he needed was to fight impulsively with Shun when there was trouble. "It doesn't matter now," Dan pointed out. "What matters is stopping them." An idea struck him, and he spoke quickly. "How about I try it out? Get some experience from the battlefield?"

Shun squinted at him as if seeing him for the first time. Dan desperately hoped that the ninja would give him a chance.

"No," the Ventus brawler growled finally, turning away.

"Shun!" Dan _needed_ the experience in order to prove to them that he could help them; that was why he was here, wasn't it? Why couldn't Shun see that?

"Dan, no offense, but the _last_ thing we need is for you to be beaten to the ground because you have absolutely no idea how to brawl!" Shun's voice rose slightly.

"Why am I here, then, if I'm not allowed to fight?" Dan snapped back. Realizing he was letting his temper take over his words, he forcefully shoved his anger back in order to think clearly. "Who are you gonna go with?"

"Marucho and Runo." Shun's voice was tight with barely restrained frustration.

"_Actually. . ."_ Marucho sounded slightly embarrassed. "_I need to stay here in order to monitor their activity. We can't be too sure that there aren't more of them."_

"That's just awesome." Shun threw his hands into the air, sarcasm in his voice that would've been undetectable for an outsider who didn't know him. "Can't anyone else go?"

"_Chan Lee, Billy, Julio, Komba, Klaus, and Jaxon are staying here with the recruits. The last thing we need is for them to run out and try to fight them."_

"_And I'm staying here to help Marucho."_ A familiar face, with blondish-brown hair and soft gray eyes appeared in a split screen along with the Aquos brawler.

Shun growled again, a guttural low sound. Dan glanced at him, surprised. He had never seen Shun lose his cool, much less hear him growl ; stoic, tough Shun, _growling._ Shun met Dan's eyes briefly before turning away.

"What about Julie or Alice?"

"_You _know _they aren't going to be on the front lines."_ Marucho's tone became concerned. "_Shun, why are you so against Dan brawling?"_

Dan, finally relieved that Marucho voiced his exact thoughts, turned to Shun and crossed his arms, waiting patiently.

Shun's demeanor changed rapidly: where he had been so aggressive, he froze up, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "I - it's -" He threw his hands up into the air exasperatedly. "Fine! You, me, and Runo."

Dan marveled at his childhood friend's rapid change of tone again, but there was no time to waste. He nodded. "Drago," he called, raising his hand to retrieve his partner.

Without pause, the dragonoid disappeared in a flash of light, dropping into Dan's palm as a ball.

Shun shot Dan an inscrutable look, making the Pyrus brawler nervous. Was Shun about to force him to stay, now that Marucho was off the air? He couldn't understand _why_ Shun was being insistent in leaving Dan here, but there was no _way_ he's being left behind.

"Let's go." The Ventus brawler's short, curt tone caused Dan to falter in his steps, but then the Pyrus brawler steeled himself and followed the ninja.

* * *

"Who do we have here?" A dark haired boy, looking to be in his mid-teens, sneered at Dan. "Another Brawler wannabe you scraped up, Shun?"

Shun uttered a growl, low and dangerous, and his fists curled menacingly. Dan shot him a look, hoping that the Ventus brawler could get the hint.

"I thought that you were done with getting recruits," the dark-haired boy taunted again. "Seems hypocritical, doesn't it, to back out on your word?"

"Don't let him get to you," Dan hissed at Shun, eyeing their opponent warily. Based on his tactics, the boy was trying to rile Shun up into a rage to make it easier to win a fight against the ninja in an actual brawl.

The Pyrus brawler should know.

Shun glared at him through his long bangs, but he relaxed his fists.

"I would listen to him, if I were you," the dark-haired boy drawled, tracing symbols in the air lazily. "But you don't listen much, do you, Shun?"

"Leave him alone!" Runo glared with the full intensity of her anger towards the dark-haired boy, who merely cackled.

"What, is this your _girlfriend_, Shun?" the dark-haired boy clucked his tongue condescendingly. "My, how the great have fallen."

"I am not - why you little - !" Runo fumed.

"Calm down," Dan muttered under his breath to Runo.

She shot a frosty look at him; Dan was surprised he didn't back away from the enraged girl. "Stay out of this, Dan Kuso!"

Ironically, she was even more beautiful when she was angry.

Knowing there was no way to argue with her, Dan instead turned away to survey their opponents.

Apart from the boy, there was a brown-haired girl who looked to be a few years older than the boy. She had gray eyes and wore a red-and-black striped cardigan, a white shirt underneath, and blue jeans. Unlike the sneering boy, she was oddly disinterested towards her surroundings, instead idly toying with the red (_Pyrus,_ Dan noted) ball in her hand.

Their third and last opponent was a large man whose face was inscrutable. He had an athletic build, yet he wasn't bulky like Julio. His dark, spiky hair was a stark contrast to the startlingly gold of his eyes. He wore a chestplate with a brown leather sash starting at his left shoulder and going across. Plastic and metal glinted in the sun from his armored legs and bulky boots.

"So what's the plan?" Dan mumbled to Shun, intentionally keeping his voice down so that their opponents wouldn't hear them.

Shun gave him a funny look. "Since when were you fond of _plans?_"

_Since I didn't have one the last time I tried to brawl._ Dan swallowed hard, shoving away at the memory. Instead of answering the question, Dan deliberately turned the conversation away from himself: "Do you have one or not?"

Shun was silent, eyeing their opponents. The Pyrus brawler could practically _see_ the Ventus brawler's mind calculating their battle strategy. Runo, although she wore a scowl on her face, was waiting anxiously for Shun's brilliance, shooting glances towards their three opponents.

"I should start off," Shun muttered. "If anything happens, Dan, you and Runo throw in your Bakugan on my mark."

Dan merely nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He felt Runo's intense gaze boring into the back of his neck, but he didn't trust himself to turn around and face her.

"Are you done chit chatting, or are you gonna actually _brawl_?" came the sneering, almost bored voice of the dark-haired boy.

"This boy's getting on my nerves," Shun snarled. "Drome up!"

The iridescent dome complied, solidifying once it touched the ground and unfolding to reveal the Hide Matrix at their feet.

He lifted his hand - the one with Pyravian nestled in his fist - and he flung the Bakugan onto the Hide Matrix while yelling, "Bakugan brawl!

"Ventus Pyravian, stand!"

A flash of teal light, and then the phoenix-like creature shot into the air with an almighty shriek. "_You have chosen the wrong people to mess with, and for that you will pay!"_ Her voice reverberated in Dan's skull, stoic and majestic, leaving him shivering in anticipation.

"Ability activate!" Shun crowed, flicking a card up. "Phoenix Wind!"

The dark-haired boy merely sneered. "Oh please," he scoffed. "Is that the best you can do?" Grinning, he threw his Bakugan into the arena. Dan watched it soar before clattering to a stop on one of the hexagonal tiles. He noted the black with the purple highlights.

_Darkus._

"Darkus Dragonoid, stand!"

A purple flash of light, and a towering creature rose to life. Dan felt his jaw drop with astonishment. He heard Runo and Shun gasp in shock, but he kept his eyes on the creature, disbelief warring with awe inside him.

In front of him was a Bakugan that looked just like Drago, except it had black and purple scales where it should've been red. Its glowing green eyes glared at Dan, piercing him to the core and leaving nothing but fear permeating his chest.

"_Battle commencing. Ventus Pyravian Ultra: 850 B-Power. Darkus Dragonoid Ultra: 900 B-power."_

"_That's. . . impossible!"_ Drago gasped. "_I thought I was the only dragonoid left!"_

"How?" Shun clenched his fist again, though Dan knew it was more in fear and disbelief than out of anger. "How is there a Darkus Dragonoid?"

"Oh, Shun." The dark-haired boy clucked his tongue again. "You've a lot to learn about the different Bakugan before you are truly a master." His condescending tone was clear: he thought of himself better than the number 1 Ventus brawler.

That thought infuriated Dan, but he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. _Don't lose control,_ he chanted within himself. Losing control meant being more likely to lose, and they couldn't afford a loss; not now, when they had to fight against AAAnimus and save Bakugan.

Shun merely glared at the dark-haired boy, displaying a shard of self-control that Dan had once seen in the old Shun. This new Shun was a lot easier to rile up, he noted. This Shun was a lot angrier, a lot more aggressive, less stoic than he used to be.

And that was concerning.

Runo, on the other hand, was not so keen on exhibiting the same self-control. "Shun's a hundred times the brawler _you_ are," she screeched. "Why don't we battle and see how good you _really_ are!"

The boy's sneer melted into a cold glare. "Fine." He held up a card. "Ability activate! Shadow Cloak!"

A dark cloud wove around the brawlers within the arena, cloaking the Darkus Dragonoid from their view. "Where'd he go?" Dan exclaimed, glancing around himself. It was pitch-black, as dark as night itself.

_Night. . ._

"Pyravian, be careful!"

"_I will."_

Someone grabbed Dan's arm. "Who's there?" he yelped, trying to wrench his arm away. A flash of _that night_ seared into his brain, and panic overtook him. He began trying to free himself.

"Stop struggling!"

Dan ceased his struggle. He knows that voice. "Runo?"

"Of course it's me! Who else did you think it was?"

"I don't know - I just -"

An almighty shriek echoed through the air. Dan and Runo both paused. Now that they were still, Dan could sense her presence right next to him, could hear her hasty breaths. His heart leaped slightly, but he pushed it down. Something was wrong.

Another shriek reverberated in the darkness. Dan knew that shriek; it had been the very first sign of the battle, stoic and royal. But this shriek - it wasn't a challenging shriek. No, it was a pained shriek.

"Pyravian!"

Dan jerked his head to the side, where Shun's anguished cry had come from. Runo's hand tightened around his (he suddenly noticed that his hand was intertwined with Runo's, and that realization sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach), and she shot him a look of worry.

It was at this point that Dan realized that the pitch-black fog was lifting, since he could actually _see_ Runo's face. "What's going on?" she whispered.

"I don't know," Dan admitted.

When the fog lifted, Dan saw Shun had dropped to his knees. The Darkus Dragonoid was towering over the Ventus brawler with a gleam of triumph in his eye, and the dark-haired boy was cackling. Pyravian was nowhere to be seen.

"Not as tough as I thought," the dark-haired boy remarked. The Darkus Dragonoid disappeared in a flash of light, returning to its owner.

Shun, breathing heavily, shot the Darkus brawler a murderous look. "You little -"

"Ah ah ah." The boy wagged his finger, smirking. "Your turn has expired, _Shun._" Dan gritted his teeth in an attempt to keep calm, but it was hard at the boy's mocking tone. "Who wants to go next?" The boy turned, surveying Dan and Runo.

"You! Guy in the red!" Now the only girl spoke, her face lit up with anticipation. "Why don't you give a go?"

Dan blinked, stunned. Before he could reply, Runo had surged forward, practically frothing at the mouth. "What, am I not worth your time? Why don't you try to go against _me_?"

The girl blinked slightly before smirking. "Fine by me."

She nabbed her Bakugan mid-toss before reeling backwards. "Bakugan brawl!

"Webam, stand!"

Out from a flash of red light came a gigantic red spider, its multiple green eyes darting around, creeping Dan out. Its hiss sent shivers down Dan's back.

On the other hand, Runo didn't look deterred; on the contrary, she had that hard glint of determination in her eyes: the one of which Dan has sometimes become afraid. She flung her Bakugan onto one of the BakuCores. "Sairus, stand!"

A brilliant flash of white, and a dragon-like creature arose from the light. Unlike Drago's leathery wings, its wings were like an angel's: pure white feathers. Its slim body made it clear how aerodynamic it was, along with its long, flowing horns.

"_Reporting for duty, milady!"_ From its voice, Dan deduced that it was in fact a she.

"Go get 'em, Sairus!" Runo cheered.

"_Haos Sairus Ultra: 800 B-Power. Pyrus Webam Ultra: 650 B-Power."_

"Ability activate!" Runo held out a card. "Haocrescents!"

"_Haos Sairus Ultra now at: 1100 B-power."_

Sairus folded her wings inward before snapping them outwards. Moon-shaped discs spiraled outwards, soaring towards the Pyrus spider.

"Not so fast!" The girl whipped out a card of her own. "Ability activate! Flame Wave!"

Dan watched in horrified amazement as the B-power of their nemesis amped up to 1250. At the same time, a huge wave of lava rose up in front of the spider, crashing down onto where Sairus had been (since Sairus shot up into the air, but not without singing her tail).

Sairus grunted in pain, wavering in the air slightly.

"Ability activate!" Runo flicked another card between her index and middle finger. "Haos Laser!"

"_Haos Sairus Ultra now at: 1900 B-Power."_

Sairus' eyes glowed, and she opened her maw wide. A beam of light shot out of her maw, hitting the Pyrus spider. The spider balked before disappearing in a flash of light, clattering to a stop at the girl's feet.

"_Yes!"_ Sairus disappeared in a flash with her crow of triumph. Runo retrieved her partner with a grin.

Dan grinned at her. "Awesome!"

Runo turned her smiling face towards him, sending butterflies fluttering in his stomach. For a second, Dan forgot about the invisible barrier between the both of them.

"Nice move, Runo." Shun came up to them, Pyravian tentatively cradled in his palm.

"Now it's my turn."

Dan snapped his head around to see their last opponent roll out his Bakugan. "Bakugan brawl!

"Eenoch, stand!"

A gargoyle-like creature arose, big and bulky. Its wings were wide with cyan circles embedded in them. A cyan core rested in the center of its chest, pulsing with light. Its large horns extended from a harsh snout, and its eyes narrowed spitefully towards them.

"It's my turn!" Dan snarled. He reeled backwards, Drago in hand. "Bakugan brawl!" With his cry, he flung his partner with all his might.

Drago shot out, low and fast, before landing to a stop on one of the BakuCores. "Drago, stand!"

A tornado of fire spun around as Drago rose to life with a roar. Dan watched, awed, as Drago rose to great heights in his new, pseudo-mechanical form. "_IT'S ABOUT TIME!"_

"_Haos Eenoch Ultra: 800 B-Power. Pyrus Dragonoid Ultra: 1100 B-Power."_ Dan grinned before turning to survey their opponent's reactions.

The sneer was wiped off the face of the dark-haired boy, who looked as though someone slapped him in the face. He was gaping up at Drago, his jaw dropped in shock. Dan's Haos opponent's expression betrayed shock on his usually-inscrutable face.

"Unbelievable!" the girl gasped. "How does he have so much B-power?"

Dan was about to smirk before he caught himself. _Don't get cocky._ "You haven't seen anything yet," he shot back, withdrawing an ability card. "Ability activate!

"Drago's Fury!"

Drago's horns, talons, and tail blade erupted in flames. His eyes began glowing a fiery orange, as did the core in the center of his chest. He threw back his head and roared, sending buildings swaying.

"It's not over yet!" Dan's head whipped around just as he watched the dark-haired boy fling his Bakugan into the field. His jaw dropped open out of angered disbelief; it was against the rules!

Similarly, Runo and Shun jerked forward with cries of rage. "You can't do that!" Runo cried.

The Darkus-attributed boy merely sneered. "Oh please. As long as we _win_, it doesn't matter what we can or can't do."

" 'The end justifies the means,' " Dan muttered. He hadn't _meant_ to say it aloud, but this boy's philosophy reminded him of some quote in a. . . book, maybe? He can't remember.

Runo shot him an apprehensive look. "What did you say?"

Dan tried to brush it off since it wasn't going to help him in this fight. "It's not all _that_ important." He ignored Shun's glare blazing the back of his head.

Runo opened her mouth, looking suspicious, but was interrupted by the rise of the Darkus Dragonoid. Dan shoved away his wandering thoughts and tried to focus them on his opponents.

"_Haos Eenoch Ultra and Darkus Dragonoid Ultra combined: 1350 B-Power. Pyrus Dragonoid Ultra: 1200 B-Power."_

"Oh snap!" Dan glanced up at his partner worryingly. "That's not gonna be enough to stop them!"

"_Now you'll know the true power of a dragonoid!"_ The Darkus Dragonoid charged at the same time that the Darkus brawler raised a card.

"Ability activate! Darkuslice!"

Two dark blades with purple highlights materialized in the Darkus Dragonoid's taloned hands. At the same time, Dan's BakuPod informed, "_Haos Eenoch Ultra and Darkus Dragonoid Ultra: 1550."_

"Drago!" Shun and Dan both cried out as the Darkus Dragonoid's blades found their mark.

"_Ack!"_ Drago stumbled back, his fiery aura dying away.

"_Pyrus Dragonoid Ultra now at: 900."_

"Dan." The Pyrus brawler in question jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to see Runo piercing him with a blazing stare. "Sairus should come in and help Drago."

Dan glanced over to see Drago, who was trying desperately to hold his own against the combined might of the Haos and Darkus Bakugan. Drago's cries of pain pierced Dan to his very core, and the Pyrus shut his eyes, trying desperately to regain his sense of calm. Every little cry that Drago made convinced Dan more and more to bring in Sairus to help his partner.

His _partner._

A strong conviction gripped Dan, and before he knew it, he tore himself from Runo's grip, found his hand was withdrawing a card. "Ability activate!" he heard himself shouting. "Energy Drain!"

A red aura surrounded Dan's opponent's Bakugan before a ribbon leached out, hitting Drago. The Darkus and Haos Bakugan dropped to their knees, groaning and clutching their heads.

"_What's. . . happening?"_

"_I feel my power. . . draining."_

Dan's BakuPod droned, "_Haos Eenoch Ultra and Darkus Dragonoid Ultra now at: 850. Pyrus Dragonoid Ultra: 900."_

"Bring 'em down, Drago," Dan commanded gravely.

"_Will do."_ Drago shot forward, claws slashing. The two Bakugan staggered backwards before disappearing in a flash of light, dropping to the feet of their opponents.

The Darkus brawler picked up his Bakugan, his sneer replaced with a cold glare. "You are an interesting opponent," he remarked. "Very. . . interesting." His tone sent shivers down Dan's back, giving him a sense of foreboding, although he doesn't know _why_.

"C'mon," the Haos brawler gruffly commanded, turning away. "Let's go."

The Pyrus brawler seemed to study Dan with narrowed eyes, as if trying to uncover his weaknesses just by scrutinizing him. She sent one last look over her shoulder before turning and walking away.

Dan turned to see Shun and Runo staring at him with wide eyes. Dan swallowed, suddenly wishing he was anywhere but here. He felt the adrenaline still coursing through him, the sky-high sensation of his triumph, and the satisfaction of winning this brawl.

He also felt the terror of coming close to losing his partner.

He turned away as he lifted the hand cradling Drago. "Are you alright?"

"_Now I am. That. . . was a close call."_

Dan swallowed slowly, nodding. "I know." Boy, does he know this. He had become acquainted with this new terror, back in his brawling days when he fought against their opponents.

He wondered how much longer it would be before he succumbed to it.

* * *

"Did you do what I asked you to?"

The Darkus brawler nodded, his eyes glinting with satisfaction. "They wouldn't've suspected a thing," he boasted.

"And what did you gather from your observations?"

"He was there, just as you said." The Darkus brawler sneered. "They must be desperate, to recruit such a lowly brawler as him."

"Careful, Jett." Jett froze, watching the cloaked figure warily. "I wouldn't bite off more than I could chew, if I were you." The cloaked figure snapped his fingers. A hologram flickered to life, displaying the results of the battle that day. "It seems as though a 'lowly brawler' defeated both you and Artemas, hm?"

Jett's ears reddened. "I would've beat him, if not for Quaeso getting in the way of Shadowclaw -"

"_What did you say?!"_ Artemas' Haos Eenoch popped out onto his partner's shoulder. "_Need I remind you, I and Shadowclaw actually worked _well _as a team -"_

Jett's Darkus Dragonoid popped onto the Darkus brawler's shoulder in turn. "_That we did,"_ he admitted.

"Not to mention, it was not _your_ battle, Jett. It was Artemas'." The two brawlers turned their attention back to the cloaked figure. "He was the one who challenged him; you had no right to interfere with their battle."

Jett's jaw dropped open. "But he was about to beat Quaeso!" the Darkus brawler argued. "Had I not stepped in -"

"Are you questioning the aptitude of your fellow brawlers?" the cloaked figure asked quietly. Jett's mouth snapped shut, and he mutely glared down at his feet.

"Very well." The cloaked figure turned away, observing the hologram. "Because of your squabbling like children -" The Darkus and Haos brawlers both flinched at his harsh words. "- I must see it fit to inform you of this: though you have all been defeated in battle, this is not a loss."

The Pyrus-attributed girl frowned, her features portraying her puzzlement. "It's not?"

"No, Azure." The cloaked figure's eyes traced over the brown spiky hair, the features of adulthood that were shining through his once-childlike face, and most of all the red eyes. The eyes that held a glimmer of determination, though the usual flames had dissipated with age. In the dim light of the hologram, though far beyond the sight of the brawlers, the cloaked figure smiled. "No, it is not."

* * *

"Dan handled himself quite well," Marucho remarked, clicking through the footage of the fight.

"Hmph."

Marucho glanced up at the Ventus brawler, his eyes shining with concern. The ninja was glaring through the screen; it was clear he wasn't glaring at the screen. "Shun."

Shun glanced down at the blond but said nothing.

"Why?"

Shun was silent for a moment. Then: "What do you mean?"

"Why didn't you want Dan to brawl?"

Shun said nothing for a moment, as if pondering the question. Just when Marucho thought Shun wouldn't answer, he spoke.

"He's changed, Marucho. He's changed."

There was a pause for an agonizingly-long second, and then Shun turned and stalked away, leaving Marucho to his own thoughts.

Who knew such simple words held so much meaning?

* * *

**A/N So, uh. . . I didn't _mean_ for this to drag out so long.**

**I originally thought I should have Dan just _demolish_ the brawlers all by himself, but then this whole tag-teaming with Shun and Runo was born, and I was like, "Well, Runo probably wouldn't want to be just, like, standing there and watching it happen; she would want to take part in it" XD**

**So. . . yeah.**

**Hope I'm nailing the angst down right; not sure, but reviews are greatly appreciated in providing feedback and constructive criticism.**

**Have a lovely day/night, whatever timezone you live in!**


	5. Meeting Masked Strangers

**Response to Reviews!**

**Krystal Rain: Yeah, actually that's what I was thinking. Shun's usually calm, but I'd like to think that Dan's departure kinda drove him over the edge a little. / Yeaaahhh I think so too. I don't think that Runo should be portrayed as complacent or a bystander in _any_ way; it doesn't do her justice in the show, and she's _not_ there just to be a romantic other for Dan. / Oh, you think so? Thanks! There's another battle sequence in here, and I hope I did it justice. / I hope you'll enjoy whatever comes next!**

**Now there is one review that I want to call out:**

**TopGun1986: Are you going to bring in the characters from Battle Planet?**

**I answered TopGun via PMing, but I think it would be best to answer it here as well.**

**My answer to that: I think for the purpose of this story, no. However, that doesn't mean that I won't bring them in for a later story, since I'm hoping to create a series (a trilogy, at the very least) in respect to this story. It all depends on whether or not people are interested enough in this one to make it work.**

**Without further ado, storytime!**

* * *

"That's enough for today," Shun said.

Dan flopped to the ground, sweat pouring from his forehead. That day, Shun had put him and Drago through a series of agility drills, where they had to dodge different objects. This was due to the fact that they'd have to dodge flying cars and whatnot during a battle.

After their run-in with the arrogant Darkus boy, the indifferent Pyrus girl, and the mysterious Haos man, Shun had decided to step up their training.

Long story short, Dan was _way_ out of shape with this stuff.

As he lay, panting, a shadow fell over him, and a person bent over, blocking the harsh light of the BakuTrain Simulation. If Dan squinted, he could see that the person in question is Shun.

"I think you need a break," Shun noted, his piercing brown eyes meeting Dan's red ones.

Dan attempted to rise, but his muscles gave out from the exhaustion. Dan yelped as he shot back onto the ground. He grimaced as his limbs throbbed, trembling from the exertion Dan had forced them through. "Yeah." Dan grinned weakly, flicking his eyes up to Shun's. "Yeah, I think. . . yeah."

Shun finally sighed, offering a hand at the Pyrus brawler. Dan gratefully accepted, allowing the Ventus brawler to pull him up. "You didn't do too bad today," Shun remarked. He then smirked slightly, a quick twitch of his lips. "For a newbie, at least."

Dan rolled his neck, grimacing as the bones cracked. "Yeah, well. . ." He grinned tiredly at Shun. He was sure that his grin seemed fake, but he couldn't help it; he was just _so_ tired. ". . . this newbie's still got some skills left in him."

Shun's eyebrows shot up before he smirked, a full smirk this time. "Go relax for a bit," he offered, patting Dan on the back before turning and walking away.

Dan nodded, grinning after Shun. After a moment, he let his grin slide off his face, and he sighed, exhaustion weighing down on him heavily. He turned away and just stood there, his muscles sagging under the weight of his burdens - physical, of course, but there was something more; he wasn't sure what, and he couldn't put a finger on it -

A sound reverberated through the arena, prompting him to look up into the seats where people could watch a training session. In a clumped area, the recruits were filing out, with Jaxon bringing up the rear. Jaxon turned and sneered at Dan, probably for Dan's performance in the training session.

A flurry of movement caught Dan's eye, and he raised his eyes to lock with a girl with bright blue hair. Runo.

For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Even from here, Dan felt the heat of her intense stare. It transfixed him, leaving him unable to do anything else except stare back, rooted to the spot.

She was the one who broke the spell, turning and walking away from the balcony where she was watching.

Dan stared after her, yearning rising up in him. But yearning for what, he didn't know.

He turned away, recalling his train of thought before watching the audience walk away. He finally had a name for his other, non-physical burden:

Emotional.

* * *

"_Dan?"_

Dan startled out of his reverie at his partner's voice. "Yeah, Drago?"

"_What are you thinking about?"_

Now _this_ was a surprise. Dan had rarely heard Drago ask him _that_ question before. Dan merely shrugged as they walked on the sidewalk, the birds twittering and the sun smiling down on them. "It's not important."

What he had been thinking about was how the last three years had affected the Brawlers. He wondered how they managed to cope with the sudden change of the battle mechanics. _He_ certainly wasn't having the best of times.

Then again, he hasn't brawled for a long time. . .

Just thinking of brawling opened the door to a whole flood of memories, most of them good, some of them. . . not so good. But even with the bad, Dan remembered the fun times he had with his friends. He closed his eyes and smiled slightly, overcome with nostalgia.

And then a lightning bolt flashed behind his eyelids.

Dan's eyes snapped open, and he staggered suddenly, his breathing speeding up. He couldn't think, couldn't move. He could only see flashes of lightning illuminate the night, could see the silhouettes of huge gang members towering over them. He could _feel_ the claw slice through his eye, could feel the blood seeping -

"_DAN!"_

Dan snapped out of his reverie, terror still thick on his tongue and heart still pumping rapidly. He tried to say, "What is it?" Instead, his words came out as, "Whah huh?"

"_Are you alright?"_

Dan shook himself, chiding his sudden onslaught. It happened three years ago! It shouldn't matter now, _especially_ in broad daylight.

And yet. . .

Dan's thoughts were interrupted when someone snagged his jacket suddenly, yanking him into an abandoned area of the park. Suddenly, lightning flashed again in Dan's eyelids. Without thinking, he began clawing at the person's hand, wrenching himself to get out of their grasp.

A harshly-filtered voice suddenly growled, "Stop it! I have to tell you something!"

The Pyrus brawler disregarded that voice, instead continuing to struggle against them. Panic welled in his throat when he realized that his captor's grip was still strong and _they weren't letting go why weren't they letting go -_

The stranger's grip suddenly went lax, and Dan, caught unawares, tumbled to the ground. He glanced up. . . only for his eyes to meet a dark-gray skull.

Stifling a scream, he scurried backwards, panic overwhelming any logic. He didn't stop until he was fully backed against a tree. Luckily for him, his captor hadn't even tried to pursue him, which was odd; wasn't the point of capturing him was, well, to capture him?

Now that he had a full view of the figure, he realized that the skull wasn't an actual skull, but a mask. The eye-sockets were actually blue-tinted visors, and the mask had horns jutting out of the temples and the jawline. A blue crescent was embedded on the center of the forehead, and feathers stuck up on the back of their head.

The stranger wore a jacket. A blue strip of cloth was stitched along the back of the left gray sleeve, with white stripes angled towards their neck from the shoulders. An image was stitched on the left side of their chest that resembled an attribute symbol, yet it wasn't an attribute symbol. Their right arm glinted in the sunlight, revealing armor with a strange design.

"_Who are you?"_ Drago demanded.

The stranger spared him a quick glance before turning their attention back to Dan. "You are Dan Kuso, are you not." It was more of a statement than a question.

Dan exchanged a look with Drago. There was no point in denying it; Drago was widely known as Dan's battle partner. "Yeah. . .?"

At his admission, the stranger hissed, "We don't have much time to talk." Their left hand flexed, curling into a fist before snapping back to its natural position. "So listen carefully."

Dan, wary now of their warning, exchanged a glance with Drago, but he kept his mouth shut in order to listen.

"You're trying to fight against AAAnimus," they began, "but they are not the true enemy."

Dan felt his eyebrow raise in disbelief. Drago was the one who voiced his thoughts perfectly, albeit angrily. "_They're trying to use Bakugan as weapons! Bakugan aren't toys, nor weapons, to be used by people."_

"Yes, I am aware of their actions," the stranger said, sounding slightly impatient, "but they are merely the puppet used by someone else, someone who has infiltrated their ranks."

"What?" Dan shot a look at Drago. He didn't know what to make of this stranger, but they seemed deadly serious; none of the joking that Dan had grown accustomed to. "Who, then?"

Just as the stranger was about to answer, a loud, jeering voice filled the air. "Well well well! Dan Kuso! Fancy meeting _you_ here!"

Dan recognized the voice and turned, glaring at the sneering dark-haired boy he had fought with, along with the Pyrus girl. "What do you want?" Suddenly realizing something the Darkus brawler had said, he added, "And how do you know my name?"

Out of the corner of his eye, the famous Pyrus brawler saw Skullmask (for lack of a name) tense up, their hand drifting to their jacket pocket.

"Details, details," Jett drawled, waving his hand dismissively. "What matters is that we brawl! And I see," he added, turning his leering eyes to Skullmask, "that you've a friend along with you."

Skullmask's voice came out perfectly neutral as they noted, "So it's a tag-team brawl that you want."

The Darkus brawler nodded, his grin stretching wickedly wide. "You and Kuso there, me and Azure here." He jerked his head towards the girl at the mention of her name.

Azure's eyes flashed, and suddenly Dan thought that Azure wasn't as harmless as he had initially thought. "Let's give them a run for their money, shall we, Jett?" She smirked, her eyes dancing dangerously.

"With pleasure."

"Are you willing to participate?" Dan started, turning as Skullmask rapidly spoke. "With those two working together, they could make a formidable team; Pyrus and Darkus."

Dan gazed curiously back at them. "What attribute are _you?_"

Instead of responding (which Dan thought was odd), the stranger merely turned back to him. "Are you in or not?"

Dan nodded without hesitation. He wasn't sure why; maybe it was because he didn't want this team to cause any more havoc, maybe he was trying to get back into the groove of brawling. Whatever supernatural force compelled him to say yes also compelled him to raise his Bakugan into the air, along with the three other brawlers, and shout, "Drome up!"

The iridescent dome billowed out, encompassing the area and leaving only the brawlers within the area.

"I'll start off," the dark-haired boy sneered before reeling his throwing hand once more. "Bakugan, brawl!"

Dan tracked the movement of that Darkus bakugan with eyes as it came to a rest on one of the BakuCores.

"Shadowclaw, stand!"

A flash of purple, and the dragonoid rose with a roar. Drago shot out of Dan's pocket, floating in midair, and unfolded. "_What did he just call that dragonoid?"_

"Shadowclaw." It was Skullmask who spoke, their hidden eyes leveled towards the Darkus brawler. Though Dan couldn't see their eyes, he could hear the intensity in their voice as they addressed Drago. "The Darkus brawler - his name is Jett Black. The Pyrus brawler's name is Azure Robinson, and her partner's a Pyrus Webam."

Dan stared at them. "How do you know this?"

The stranger met his eyes steadily before turning back, surveying their opponents. "I've been observing them for a while," they muttered.

Dan continued to stare at the stranger, trying to gauge their emotions. It was difficult, as their face was obscured by a skull mask, leaving them inscrutable. He glanced at Drago, whose aura pulsed with suspicion.

Dan shrugged, sighing, before reaching for Drago. "Alright, Drago, let's -"

"Wait." Dan flinched as the stranger's hand grasped his arm firmly. "Let me take care of Jett. You can deal with Azure, yes?"

Dan frowned, puzzled. He _knew_ he could take on Jett, but he was more confused than insulted. "Yeah, but why do you want to take on Jett?"

Skullmask flicked their right hand. Dan squinted, discerning a Bakugan, but not any Bakugan he's seen before: this Bakugan was clear, with hints of lightning-blue and cyan running through the non-clear parts. The stranger brought their Bakugan up to where their mouth would've been. "I've got a trick up my sleeve he wouldn't see coming."

Dan exchanged a look with Drago. Clearly, this stranger has something they weren't telling Dan; well, they had a _lot_ of things they weren't telling him, but this one was the most urgent. _What_ was it that they had that couldn't take Jett by surprise? From what Dan had seen, Jett has had a lot of practice with Bakugan; he was sure that if the stranger attempted something, chances are Jett would know how to counteract it.

Though, Dan suddenly realized, the same could be applied with himself; anything he attempted, Jett could probably counter. At least Jett had never seen the stranger before; maybe that'll give them an advantage.

"Are you gonna brawl, or are you gonna sit there and snooze all day?" came Jett's jeering voice. Dan glanced over at the arrogant Darkus brawler, disgust leaking in his chest.

"Such arrogance," Dan muttered.

"_Well, you were once the same."_

Dan clenched his jaw together, memory upon memory of his previous arrogance. How it costed him, over and over again, all because he couldn't see battles clearly and acknowledge how big of a threat his opponents were.

He snapped out of his self-loathing just as the stranger tossed their Bakugan in the air before flinging it into the battlefield. "Bakugan, brawl!" they shouted.

The clear Bakugan rolled out onto a BakuCore before unfolding. "Thundrus, stand!"

There was a flash of cyan light, so bright and sharp that black spots danced in Dan's eyes, rendering him unable to see clearly.

When his vision cleared, he finally saw the _trick_ that the stranger must've talked about, and his jaw dropped open as he regarded the creature.

The creature was a huge bird. Three pairs of wings ran down the length of its back, and its tail was not just tail feathers; it was an _actual_ tail that split into two down the middle further down. Two tufts of feathers on its head made it seem as if it had horns. Piercing cyan eyes glared down at Shadowclaw, the Darkus Dragonoid, and its sharp beak and talons gleamed wickedly.

What was most stunning of all was its color scheme: a light-silver underbelly with a body made of a dark lightning-blue scheme, with cyan veins running through in an almost-technological fashion. As far as Dan knew, there was _no_ known attribute with that same color scheme.

Their opponents' reactions were priceless: Jett's face, for once, had lost that smirk and actually seemed fearful, face pale and sweat that Dan could see glistening even from this far. Azure's expression was flabbergasted, her eyes widening in shock and worry. "What - what is _that?_" Jett sputtered. "That's not -"

The stranger seemed to _enjoy_ their shocked reactions. "It's not what?"

Jett spluttered again, seemingly floundering for some tangible thought to grasp. Meanwhile, Dan turned to the stranger. Drago was in a similar state of shock as their opponents, his tiny jaw opening and closing at the sight of the Thundrus. "_Impossible,"_ he growled. "_That's an attribute I have not seen before!"_

"Explain." Dan stared at Skullmask. "Now."

Dan had the feeling that the stranger was grinning behind their mask. "I'm sure you've heard of me by now," they slyly stated, "unless Jaxon had no sense whatsoever and shut his mouth, huh?"

Dan suddenly flashed back to what Shun had said, earlier on:

"_They informed Jaxon - mind I add, vaguely - about this new threat._ _This new brawler. . . their attribute is something none of us have ever seen before."_

"You!" Dan stared at them. "Are you the brawler who has no known attribute? Are you the one who delivered that vague message to Jaxon?"

"Pleased to meet you in the flesh, Dan Kuso."

Dan gaped at the masked stranger, grasping for something to say. The stranger cut him off with a, "Let's finish this battle first, shall we? Then we can talk."

Dan could only shut his mouth and nod numbly.

Jett seemed to have recovered his wits, and he sneered at Skullmask. "It doesn't matter! Either way, I'm taking you down!" But Dan could hear the hint of fear in the Darkus brawler's voice.

"_I don't know who you are, and I don't know how this is possible, but I _will _destroy you!"_ Shadowclaw snarled, glaring at the huge, unknown-attributed bird.

The legendary bird's eyes only glowed brighter. "_Bring it,"_ he challenged. His voice had a cold and calculating tone that sent shivers down Dan's back, and he had a feeling that the brawl won't end well for the Darkus brawler.

"_Darkus Dragonoid Ultra: 700 B-Power. Unknown-attributed Thundrus: 600 B-Power."_

Dan frowned slightly at his BakuPod. Even his BakuPod didn't know what this attribute was?

"Ability card activate!" Jett crowed, holding up a card. "Darkustorm!"

Wind began picking up, swirling around the Darkus Dragonoid and ripping at Dan's clothes. Dan saw dark purple clouds begin swirling, taking form over them all and obscuring everyone from outside the dome. Shadowclaw arched his back and _howled_, the most guttural sound Dan has heard, as purple lightning surged into him, lighting up the dark area and highlighting his silhouette in flashes of purple.

"_Darkus Dragonoid Ultra now at: 1100 B-Power."_

Dan, instinctively, turned towards Skullmask. To his surprise, the stranger didn't react; even with the skull mask on to hide their features, Dan could usually tell from their body language. But nothing, not even the slightest twitch, betrayed whether or not they were worried. On the contrary, they actually seemed _confident_.

"You're using lightning against a lighting-attributed Bakugan?" Skullmask flicked out a card of their own. "Ability activate! Generator Absorption!"

Dan frowned, puzzling over their words. _Lightning-attributed?_ His eyes widened as he saw an aura of cyan manifest around the large bird. At the same time, Shadowclaw opened his wings wide open, the purple jumping to them, before he beat them. Hard.

Purple lightning surged out, shooting towards Thundrus. At the same time, the bird arched, letting out an almighty shriek as the purple lightning slammed into him.

Dan felt his eyes widen even more, shocked, as the lightning seemed to dissipate once it hit the aura that surrounded Thundrus, leaving the Bakugan unhurt. At the same time, the aura glowed even brighter, as if. . .

_As if it was absorbing the lightning._ Dan glanced at his BakuPod. It read out, "_Darkus Dragonoid Ultra: 700 B-Power. Unknown-attributed Thundrus now at: 1000 B-power."_

Thundrus' eyes glowed impossibly bright. Once the barrage of lightning ceased, the aura around the bird flowed into him, as if Thundrus was drawing the energy inside himself. Dan watched, awed, as the bird reared up, shrieking. He could practically _feel_ the power radiating off of this mighty Bakugan, leaving chills down his back. The dark clouds faded out of existence, as if there wasn't enough energy left to keep them there.

"Wh-what?" Jett spluttered, his face paling even further, if Dan thought that were possible. "No! That's impossible!"

Even the Darkus Dragonoid himself seemed shocked, which astonished Dan. If a Bakugan was caught off-guard, then it must be something _big_. "_How? That power. . . it's nothing I've ever seen before!"_

"_Lucky for you, you get to experience it firsthand."_ Thundrus nodded towards Skullmask. "_Shall we finish it?"_

"With pleasure." The stranger flicked up another card. "Ability activate! Lightnicane!"

With the utterance of those words, clouds swirled to life within the dome again, occupying where the dark clouds had been. But these clouds were different: they were tinted with a cyan color, indicating their origin. They somehow seemed more friendly than the cold darkness of the Darkustorm clouds, though Dan knew that these were just as dangerous.

Cyan lightning flashed, surrounding Thundrus in a bright glow. Thundrus reared up again, shrieking. "_Now you will taste the _true _power of lightning!"_

With those words, a tornado burst to life, completely encasing the Bakugan within itself. Even with the wind forcing Dan to shut his eyes, he could see the bolts of lightning that zipped around on the outside.

The tornado sped towards the Darkus Dragonoid. Shadowclaw seemed to try desperately to anchor himself, but the force of the wind lifted him off his feet. Dan watched in a mix of horror and awe as the dragonoid was sucked into the vortex of high-velocity winds and pure energy.

"Shadowclaw!"

Jett's anguished cry was followed by a howl of pain before there was a flash of purple from within the hurricane of lightning. Dan could see a tiny, dark ball being flung violently out of the tornado and landing at Jett's feet.

The Pyrus brawler couldn't believe his eyes. _Thundrus took Shadowclaw down. . . as if he were nothing at all!_ Dan raised his head just as Thundrus dispelled the storm and disappeared in a flash of cyan, returning to Skullmask's outstretched hand.

Dan studied the mysterious brawler next to him for the first time. Though Dan knew that Skullmask's unknown attribute was bound to take people off-guard, _this_. . . this was a display of true power and skill. He felt respect and fear rising up in him. This stranger would make a formidable opponent. . . and a valuable ally.

Which makes him glad that he isn't one of the two brawlers that was positioned across from him.

Jett's and Azure's expressions were priceless: Jett's face was pale, his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide with shock. The Pyrus brawler next to him wore an equally-stunned expression, her eyes wide with what Dan assumed was fear.

Skullmask stepped away from the matrix. When Dan locked eyes with them, they nodded and gestured towards the matrix. "I believe," they stated, "it's your turn to deal with Azure."

Dan studied them for a moment, unsure of what to say. Should he compliment them, or should he demand an explanation. But when he studied their body language, they seemed to give the message, _Later._

Dan nodded. "Fine by me." He turned and lifted Drago in his hand. "Bakugan, brawl!"

* * *

As Drago was way more powerful than the spider-like Bakugan, Azure and her Webam didn't stand a chance against them. The two brawlers fled after the brawl, both still in various states of shock.

Truthfully, the Pyrus brawler couldn't blame them. He was just as, if not more, confounded by the sheer _power_ of the masked brawler and their Bakugan.

Together, the two were walking up the sidewalks. Since the drome pushed all the people out of the area, they have yet to see people walking through the sidewalks. And, Dan mused, that gave them adequate time to talk privately.

Dan halted, folding his arms across his chest. The stranger stopped too, still facing away from him. "Okay, so. . . what attribute are you? Really?"

"I had assumed you had a lot more than that to start off with, Dan Kuso. But I'd be happy to answer." The stranger turned to face the young man. "My attribute is Fulminus, which is lightning."

Dan frowned. He pretty much figured, but there was another, more pressing question to consider with this new attribute. "But. . . there _are_ no lightning attributes in New Vestroia."

"No," the stranger agreed. "Not in New Vestroia, at least."

The way they worded it sent chills down Dan's back. "What do you mean?"

The stranger didn't answer. Instead, they turned their masked eyes onto him. Though he couldn't see it, the Pyrus brawler could _feel_ it boring into his soul. "Be careful, Dan Kuso," they warned. "The people we fought against today are not who they seem."

Dan paused, taking this all in. He had initially thought that the two brawlers had just been that: trouble-making brawlers. But with these words, he had to wonder. . .

"What does _that_ mean?"

The stranger glanced around, almost nervously. With a jolt, Dan realized that people were beginning to converge back into the park. The stranger hissed, "I'm sorry, I gotta go."

With that, they rushed towards a nearby forest. Dan suddenly realized that he didn't even know their name. With a jolt, he chased after them. "Wait! What's your name?"

The stranger paused at the edge of the woods and looked over at Dan. For a moment the sun glinted off their visors, giving an eerie glow to their eyes. "The name's Thunderlord."

With that, they slipped into the woods, leaving Dan to stand there and ponder over the mysterious stranger.

* * *

Jett and Azure returned, both their faces pale with shock from the day's events.

The cloaked figure was in front of them in an instant, startling Jett, who leaped back with a yelp, and Azure, who screamed.

"What _happened?_" the stranger demanded.

A spark of anger ignited in Jett's eyes, and for a moment he almost seemed like his old self. "It was a new brawler," he hissed. "They had an attribute that we have never seen before. They crushed us, and it seems as though they know what we're up to."

The cloaked stranger pulled away. "I see." His cold tone was enough to send chills down anyone who was listening. "Then we need to step up." He turned away to face Artemas, who was watching them with an inscrutable expression. "Let Dusk know. We must commence with Phase Two."

A flicker of unease passed through Artemas' eyes. "Phase Two? Are you sure?"

"Yes!" The cloaked figure turned away. "This new brawler may ruin _everything_ for us! We need to hasten, if we are to accomplish anything."

The Haos brawler studied the cloaked figure for a moment. Finally, he nodded. "It shall be done."

Once Artemas was out of the room, the cloaked figure turned to Jett and Azure. "You are dismissed," the cloaked figure hissed. "Leave me."

Without protest, the two brawlers departed, leaving the cloaked figure by himself. The cloaked figure turned towards a computer monitor and pulled out a keyboard. With a few swift clicks, he pulled up a map. Millions of dot blinked back at him - profiles of every brawler in the world. Though some pulsed red, others dark blue, and still others either black, white, orange, or teal, he noticed one that pulsed a different color. Cyan.

Curious, he clicked on the icon. Another window popped up, showing no picture and no stats. . . except for any past battles they have had. On the most recent one, he noticed that it was today's date.

He lifted his gaze to look at their name: _Northern._

Under his cloak, his mouth lifted in a sinister grin. "Gotcha."

* * *

**A/N So. . . sorry if the ending seemed rushed. . .**

**The ending is meant to set up the next chapter (which I will try to get out soon), and as it was a last-minute change, I kinda started rushing because I wanted to get this chapter out for all my lovely readers :D**

**I don't know if I sacrificed quality to get this out, though. Let me know in the reviews.**

**I'm sure you can figure out _who_ Northern is supposed to be, just based on the name. If you're one of those people who don't like OCs being the main character, don't worry; she won't appear a whole lot, s'far as I can see.**

**If one of you guys wanna make, like, an art cover for this, PM me and we can talk about it. I will credit you, don't worry!**

**I also have a Twitter account, goshawk_north, so if you want to hear some updates bout writing n shtuff, feel free to follow me if you wish!**

**Have an awesome day!**


	6. Drilling Into Dreams

**Response to Reviews:**

***crickets chirping***

**Ahem. So.**

**Moving on!**

**WARNING! Violence later on in this chapter! Mentions of blood! Proceed with caution**

* * *

"_This just in,_" a reporter uttered from a television, "_the famous corporation known as AAAnimus has mysteriously began drilling into the ground within Skate Park._"

Each of the Brawlers paused, looking at the TV as the report unfolded. Dan leaned forward, studying the logo on the screen. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw Shun shoot him a suspicious look, but Dan shrugged, just as confused as anyone else.

"_There was no preliminary report released prior to this sudden arrangement. The head of the corporation, Norman Dusk, only had this to say:_"

A man popped onto the screen now, a microphone up in his face. In his business-formal attire, he looked coldly professional. He was middle-aged with stiff salt-and-pepper hair. His facial features were harsh, almost cruel, and his cold eyes completed the look.

Shun leaned forward, his expression betraying his piqued interest. Dan glanced over at Runo, who shot him a puzzled look and shrugged. He then turned to Julie, Marucho, and Alice, who were sitting nearby; they seemed engrossed in the TV.

"_This is a restricted area to implement our special project. We have nothing to say, except that this area is forbidden to outsiders._"

Dan saw Shun's jaw clench, watched the Ventus brawler's eyes flash angrily. He couldn't blame the ninja; whatever "special project" they were talking about must involve the exploitation of Bakugan for their personal gain.

Just thinking about it sends waves of anger in his chest, but Dan pushed it down to listen to the report.

"_Why was there no preli -_"

"_I'm afraid that's all for now._" His cold tone sent shivers down Dan's back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marucho shoot him a worried look, but he kept his eyes glued to the TV.

The screen suddenly winked out. Dan turned to see Shun with the remote in his hand. Shun carefully placed it back onto the coffee table before turning to all the Brawlers. "Well," he began in a measured tone, "that was unexpected."

Marucho exhaled, almost carefully, and he leaned back in his seat, studying the blank TV screen. "Indeed."

Shun shot a significant look at Dan. "Dan? What did you do _this_ time?"

_Why are you asking_ me_?_ Dan wanted to ask. Instead, he swallowed his pride down and shrugged slightly at Shun. If Shun thought he could rile up the Pyrus brawler, then he is sorely mistaken. "What makes you think I did this?" he asked lightly.

Shun narrowed his eyes at Dan, his mouth parting slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw that Runo's eyes had also narrowed considerably, but he forced himself to ignore her as he stared calmly back at Shun.

"Well, I don't know, maybe the fact that you brawled with those same troublemakers yesterday that we did a week ago." Shun's tone eerily matched Dan's, but his eyes flashed dangerously.

Dan frowned, pondering on his words. "What does this have to do with AAAnimus?" he asked uneasily, his eyes flicking onto each of his friends. "They're just a bunch of troublemaking brawlers. . . right?" He knew what they were implying, but he didn't think they suspected. . . _that_.

At his words, all the Brawlers shifted, almost uneasily, which basically served as confirmation. Dan already knew what Shun was going to say when he spoke up. "We suspect that these same brawlers are somehow connected to AAAnimus."

Dan paused, regarding Shun's comment. In a way, it made sense; brawlers don't _typically_ bother others repeatedly unless they want to prove something to others or. . . they're told to do so. Though it made sense logically, there was a drawback to Shun's statement.

"Is there any _proof_ of this?"

Now the Brawlers _did_ look a little embarrassed, some of them shooting Dan surprised looks. Only Shun and Runo narrowed their eyes at him. "Well. . . no. . ." Shun admitted hesitantly.

Dan considered this. If they didn't have proof, then there was no way to affirm what the Brawlers were suspecting. Though the logic makes sense, there was no evidence to back it up, as much as he wanted to believe it.

But there were more pressing matters to worry about.

For one, _the drilling into the earth by AAAnimus!_

Dan breathed out, running a hand through his hair. Drago popped back up on the young man's shoulder, unfolding again. "_I say we focus on AAAnimus and their. . . special project, whatever it is,"_ the Bakugan proposed. "_Whatever they're up to, it can't be good."_

Shun's frown deepened. "That's the problem. If these new brawlers _are_ connected to AAAnimus, then they may cause trouble for us. They could even try to keep us from figuring out what they're planning."

Dan paused, considering Shun's words. _That's. . . actually a good point. . ._

"So what are we going to do?" Marucho looked up, almost beseechingly, at Shun. His expression caught Dan off-guard, and he frowned. He's never seen Marucho so desperate.

_It must be getting really bad, if Marucho's desperate._

Shun tapped the bottom of his lip, thinking. Analyzing. "We can't approach them," he shot down. "And we can't make accusations in broad daylight. They have a _lot_ of favor, and it would only give us a bad name if we even _attempted_, which would make it harder for us to find out what they're doing."

Dan sat back, thinking to himself. Around him, everyone was doing the same, with furrowed eyebrows and pensive expressions.

Dan silently chuckled to himself. This reminded him of those times when they sat and chatted on a computer together. His thoughts began turning again as he reminisced from their battles with Naga to when he was called away to New Vestroia to help the Resistance take out the Dimension Controllers.

Dan's thoughts narrowed down to the Dimension Controllers. He frowned. _Wait. . ._

What did they do with the first Dimension Controller? It was from Alpha City, but. . .

Wait.

Oh, wait. A. Second.

He realized there _was_ a way to find out what AAAnimus was planning. Or, at least, see _why_ they were interested in that specified area.

Shun had said that there was no way to approach them. _But at night. . ._

"I think I might have an idea," Dan supplied softly. Five heads snapped towards him, looks of surprise plastered on their faces. Dan kept his eyes firmly on Shun's, ignoring the heated stare that he felt Runo giving him.

Shun nodded once, the movement short and sharp. "Proceed."

Dan paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts up. He continued to look at Shun. "We can't approach them outright, true," he acknowledged, "but what if - _if_ \- we were able to, say, slip in when no one's noticing?" He couldn't help but grin cheekily. "Or maybe _accidentally_ stumble on it in the dark?"

Shun's lips twitched, his eyes flashing with amusement and - Dan looked closer - was that _unease?_ "I think," he began, "that is an _excellent_ idea."

Runo's glare, coincidentally, turned from just a heated glare to a full-blown, concentrated _laser._

Julie, on the other hand, seemed unable to sense the tension between the three Brawlers. "Great!" she gushed, standing suddenly and shooting towards Dan, startling him with the squeeze she gave him. He laughed awkwardly, pointedly ignoring Runo's laser-glare.

Shun nodded, a hint of approval in his eyes. "I think I'd like to set out tomorrow night."

"What, by _yourself?_" Runo pointed out, incredulous. The implication crashed down on Dan, and he turned, shocked towards the Ventus brawler. Shun nodded.

"Face it. I'm the only one who has had any stealth training around here." Dan opened his mouth, ready to contradict the ninja. After all, _he_ had managed to disappear off the grid for a while.

As if sensing the Pyrus brawler's retort, Shun shot him a glare. "Going under a fake name does _not_ count, Dan."

The young man addressed closed his mouth. A million retorts went through his head, but he had to concede that Shun had a point; he was the one who had the most experience with infiltrating largely-populous areas. "Fair point," he grunted.

Shun smirked, although Dan noted with confusion that it was strained. "Then it's been decided," he declared, turning towards the rest of the Brawlers. "I'll set out tomorrow night. Do some recon and scouting."

"Fantastic! I'll cook dinner tonight!" Julie winked at Shun before flouncing out of the room. Dan glanced at Shun to see a perplexed expression on the Ventus brawler's face.

Alice trailed after her, glancing back at Shun. "I'll, ah, help her." Dan could've _sworn_ that Alice's face was lightly dusted with a tint of pink. With those words she was out of the room.

Dan turned towards Shun and was startled to find a small smile on the normally-stoic ninja. He glanced over to where Shun had been staring, which was the doorway where Alice had disappeared from.

_Ah._ Dan snickered, turning to Shun. The Ventus brawler started, glancing at Dan with a frown.

"What?"

"So. . . I see you and Alice have gotten quite _close_, eh?"

"Shut up."

* * *

_He ran, ran as fast as he could, through the tunnels that intertwined with each other in the darkness. He didn't know where he was, and he didn't know _how _he ended up here. All he knows is that he had to get away from. . . he didn't know that either._

_But he had to get away._

_A deep, chilling laugh echoed through the channels, bouncing off the walls and leaving the hair on his neck standing straight up. A shiver inadvertently made its way down his spine, but he didn't slow. If anything, he only picked up his pace._

He's close.

He's close.

"_Don't let him catch up to you," a voice whispered in his ear._

_If anything, the eerie whisper spurred him to start sprinting through the tunnels. He didn't even know where he was going, but he didn't care._

_As he tore through the various tunnels, not pausing for a moment to contemplate which tunnel to take, he heard a variety of voices coming from everywhere and nowhere, all around him and yet not at the same time. Disembodied voices that cried out, pleaded, screamed, sobbed._

_He couldn't determine _who_, specifically, they were. All he knew was that they didn't belong to the same person whose chilling laugh had echoed through the chambers earlier; no, these voices were warmer, lacking the sadism of that laugh, and they were laced with pain, pain that he doubted the owner of the laugh could feel._

_He halted, his heart crawling into his throat. He had reached the edge of a cliff. All along the edge, he somehow knew that every tunnel led to this area._

_Escape was futile._

_As he looked, he noted with some confusion the eerie, unnatural water-blue glow that was surely at the bottom of the cliffs. He didn't dare venture further, for his conscience was whispering it was a horrible idea._

_There was a thud that sounded behind him. Somehow, he knew that it was his chaser. He turned and couldn't help but scream out._

_His chaser was a cloaked figure, the hood shadowing his eyes. In the dimness of the cave system, red armor glinted. What was visible of his mouth twisted upwards into a sneer. "Well, well, well." He laughed the same deep, chilling laugh that turned the other's blood into ice. "You refused to cooperate, which made my job. . . harder." His eyes glinted with sadistic intent. "Lucky I found you in the end, eh?"_

_The other shook his head, backing away from the cloaked figure. "Who - who _are _you?"_

_Instead of answering, the cloaked figure drew a sword with a resounding _SHANG! _The other began shaking against his will, unconsciously backing away from the cloaked figure._

_The cloaked figure paused after he drew the blade, which confused the other. Why wasn't he attacking?_

_The cloaked figure moved his arm so that the flat of the blade was visible to the other. "What do you see?"_

_As the other peered into the blade, he saw flashes of memories that he yearned to forget: his arrogance, his impatience, his brashness, his thirst for battle. Along with these, he saw the consequences of his actions: his Bakugan roaring about his carelessness, the devastation of several different arenas, and - most of all - his friends' hurt faces after learning he had left._

_Guilt and shame surged within him, and he shook his head, trying to will away the memories and failing; the images were burned into his mind. "No. . ."_

_He looked up just as the cloaked figure charged. Eyes wide, he tried to dodge the blade, but he was too slow._

_Metal slid through his abdomen, cutting through his body. Searing pain exploded in his being, and his limbs went lax against his will. He choked, blood clinging to the back of his throat and trickling out of his mouth._

_The cloaked figure leaned forward, and for the first time, the other saw his eyes. His killer's eyes had a cold, hard glint in them that were filled with a sadistic pleasure as he watched his prey flail._

_His sadistic, red eyes met with wide red ones._

_The cloaked figure's mouth twisted upwards in a cold, mirthless grin. He leaned forward until his lips were right next to the other's ear, sending a cold chill through the other's on-fire body._

"_Say hello to Death for me, eh?"_

_With those words, he yanked his blade out and shoved the other._

_The other, not in control of his own movements anymore, stumbled backwards. Warm blood flowed freely from the gruesome wound. The shock of seeing it happen made him unresponsive, left his body on autopilot._

_Only when his foot tried to step on empty air did he realize what was happening. His hands flung out, perhaps out of habit, desperate for something to grasp._

_There was nothing._

_And he, Dan Kuso, fell screaming into the void._

* * *

Dan shot up, a silent scream tearing at his throat. He just sat there, panting, chest heaving for breath as he sat there.

He shut his eyes, reminding himself to _breathe, just breathe._

But how could he, when he saw - no, _felt_ his own death happen?

Shame crawled in his throat when he recalled all the shameful events that had occurred back when he had been a Brawler. All his brash, impulsive, reckless urges that had - on more than one occasion - nearly gotten his friends.

He sighed, twisting the sheet covers in his hand. A quick glance towards Drago revealed that the Bakugan hadn't woken. Good.

Dan swung his legs over the bed and stood, walking (a little unsteadily) towards the bathroom, shaking his head to clear the drowsiness.

Water splashed in the basin as he leaned over it, cupping water in his hand and throwing it over his face. It helped him wake up (and to wash away the sweat), but when he closed his eyes, the images were burnt into his mind now.

Dan opened his eyes and glanced back up wearily at the mirror.

And yelped.

What was staring back at him was _not_ his reflection; it was another boy. This boy was quite a bit shorter than he was and didn't look old in the least; maybe about 10 years old, if Dan had to guess. The boy had on a red jacket with two pockets on both sides of his chest and a plain red shirt. A red streak ran through the hair that was swept to the side on his forehead. Brilliant blue eyes stared back at him, a mix of determination and curiosity.

Just as suddenly, when Dan blinked, the image was replaced by his exhausted self, the bags under his eyes painfully obvious, along with his horrendous case of bed hair.

He leaned against the wall behind him, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. He tried to tell himself it was nothing but a hallucination, nothing but his brain desperately trying to find refuge in sleep.

Still, there was one thought that continued to circulate through his mind, even as he stumbled back to his bed and lay there, staring at his ceiling.

_What was that?_

* * *

**A/N Aaaannnndddd cut!**

**This chapter is a little shorter than most chapters - mostly because I wanted it to be, like, an interlude. Y'know?**

**I hope you liked that (violent) dream sequence! I hope I did well in this!**

**Also, I have a twitter, goshawk_north, where I do Minecraft, Bakugan, and Ninjago! If you want me to post updates about a story or whatever, just check it out!**

**(I don't have any updates on stories posted rn bc there's no one following me, so. . .)**

**Reviews and constructive criticism appreciated!**


	7. Rising Tensions

**Response to reviews:**

**TopGun1986: Not really (like, Darkus Nillious) unless I get Magnus Black in here (which I won't, but I may for a future story). I prefer to keep the Bakugan with their respective partners at all times; with the Battle Brawlers, though, I get more creative freedom since they don't even exist in the Battle Planet world, and therefore I can just do whatever I want with them.**

**ploiuiu: I'm glad you liked the dream! What do you think about it, exactly? Like, any theories or anything? / I have quite a bit in store for Danny-boy here, and I plan on showing it to my dear readers! / I don't know what the true layout of the Bakugan HQ is XD, but just assume that Shun's far from Dan's room / Yeah, he's definitely. . . learned some stuff in the 3 years he's been gone. . .**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Dan stumbled into the dining room, his eyes heavy from a fitful night of sleep.

Marucho was the first to greet him, although he did so with a concerned expression. "Dan? Are you okay?"

Dan stared at him, his brain too sluggish to process Marucho's words at first. Once he realized what Marucho had said, he shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "Why. . . wouldn't I be?"

Marucho frowned again, his eyes flicking over to something Dan couldn't see. Suddenly, Shun was right next to him. Dan nearly jumped out of his skin at the Ventus brawler's sudden appearance.

When he turned his head, he could see the ninja's worried frown. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You look as though you haven't slept in years."

Dan's weary, exhausted brain took too long to process the Ventus brawler's words. It felt as though time was moving too slowly for him, and everything outside of his little time bubble was going ultra fast.

A cool hand gripped his chin, jerking his head up and forcing his eyes to meet Shun's eyes. His eyebrows were furrowed. Dan suddenly realized that he hadn't answered Shun's question. He blinked blearily, trying to focus his vision on the Ventus brawler. "Ah. . ."

A new, unfamiliar voice sounded behind Shun. "Is there something wrong with him?"

Shun released him and stepped away, leaving Dan staggering back. He shook his head again, pressing a hand to his right eye, before glancing in the general direction where the voice had sounded.

The owner of the voice appeared to be a girl (she was the only one sitting in the general vicinity). Her heritage seemed to be of Asian descent, based on her facial features and dark hair. She wore a teal leather jacket with the Ventus symbol imprinted on the left side of her chest, with a white shirt underneath and yoga pants. She glanced curiously at him from startingly-green eyes.

Now that Dan had the time to look, he realized that everyone - even other faces he wasn't familiar with - was seated at the table. There was Jaxon, who was glaring at him from the far end of the table. Another Asian-looking kid, with a black-and-blue-striped jacket hanging almost carelessly on his body, was regarding him with sharp interest.

A third kid who was dressed in black _everything_ (even his hair was black!) was quietly talking to Alice, his eyes flickering up to Dan every so often. His features were stoic, his expression unreadable.

A sandy-haired, bright eyed kid with an orange baseball cap turned backwards and a loose brown sweatshirt shot Dan an unimpressed stare before turning back to his conversation with another kid, who was dressed in a plain white hoodie. The way the latter glared at Dan reminded him a little of Runo.

Chan Lee and Joe Brown were sitting together, talking in low voices; Chan was grinning, and Joe was chuckling softly. Julio, Billy, and Julie were discussing something amongst themselves, with Billy cackling after the Haos brawler had said something. Marucho and Klaus von Hertz were chatting with each other, possibly about Aquos stuff (which Dan probably wouldn't understand anyways).

Runo seemed to be looking anywhere _except_ at Dan; for some reason, her actions sent a pang through Dan's chest. At the same time, he knew he deserved it, leaving Runo like that as he traversed to another town.

Shun turned towards the girl in the teal jacket, confirming Dan's suspicions. "There's nothing _wrong_ with him," Shun replied, sounding slightly annoyed. "He probably didn't sleep well or something."

The teal-wearing girl didn't look fazed by Shun's tone. Either she had heard enough to have gotten used to it, or she chose to ignore it.

Dan blinked slowly at the girl before casting his gaze on the four other kids whose names he didn't know. "Um." He looked at Shun. "Who're. . . they?"

Shun looked startled for a moment. "Oh, I forgot that I hadn't introduced you to them yet." He gestured to the girl he had been facing. "This is Feng, the Ventus recruit. Then that's -" He gestured towards the blue-dressed boy. "- Shinto, the Aquos recruit."

Shinto jerked his head down in a nod, his eyes regarding the Pyrus brawler. "Pleasure to meet you."

"The one in black is Kurgo," Shun continued. "He's our Darkus recruit."

The newest Darkus recruit nodded a little more smoothly than Shinto had. "Kuso."

"The guy in the orange cap is Killian," Shun added, "and the kid in the white hoodie is Fyero."

" 'Sup?" Killian saluted with two fingers lazily. Fyero merely stared at Dan with narrowed eyes, which unsettled the latter.

Mostly because the Haos brawler's stare was reminiscent of Runo's glare.

Shun studied Dan for a moment. "Are you okay?"

Dan blinked at him again at the sudden shift in the topic, his brain struggling to keep up with what was happening. Once his brain processed Shun's words, Dan waved off the ninja. "Just a dream I had." He found a seat that was seated between Marucho and Alice and plopped down into it, helping himself to some juice and sausages.

Shun blinked before he frowned. "A dream?"

At this point, Dan's brain began to function a little bit better, finally waking itself of the stupor that drowsiness brings. The Pyrus brawler nodded. "Yeah." Then he frowned, realizing that the gist of the dream had faded into the back of his mind.

He tried to recall the details of the dream that had woken him that night. It was all a blur, and his trip to the bathroom seemed more of a distant dream than reality. He tried his hardest to recall the scenes that had disturbed his peaceful sleep. . .

A flash of a whirling blade piercing his stomach.

Dan flinched involuntarily, nearly spilling the juice in the cup he had in his hand. Marucho and Alice paused in their respective conversations to shoot Dan concerned looks. "Dan?" Alice laid a gentle hand on Dan's arm (_a flash of lightning, the grip on his arm tightening almost painfully_). "Are you - ?"

"I'm fine," Dan replied aloud, slanting his eyes away from Marucho's curious gaze and Alice's concerned look. He could _feel_ Shun's frowning gaze penetrating him, but he kept his eyes on his plate. Suddenly, the sausages didn't look as appetizing as when he had stepped in.

He stood suddenly, feeling his chair being knocked behind him. He could feel everyone's startled eyes on him, but he didn't meet any of them. He mumbled an excuse as he hurried out of the dining room, feeling the burning gazes of each of the Brawlers.

His feet carried him away from the oppressive gazes of other people. Dan didn't know where he was heading, just that he needed to get away to be alone.

The Pyrus brawler suddenly realized that he was lingering outside a set of doors; at some point he was unaware of, his feet had halted, leaving Dan in this area.

He leaned against the wall next to the doors, closing his eyes and reminding himself to _breathe, just breathe._

Now that he was alone, he could dwell on his confusing thoughts, the ones that continued whispering and bugging and (in some cases) shouting in his face.

Drago suddenly rolled out and unfolded. "_Dan?"_ A note of worry entered his voice. "_Are you. . . alright?"_

Dan paused, considering the dragonoid's question. On the one hand, he could tell Drago anything; he _knew_ he could trust his partner. Drago was the one thing that stayed consistent throughout those 3 years he stayed away from the Brawlers.

On the other hand. . .

The details of the dream still spooked him. He recalled all the dreams he's had previously, from Drago's transformation to Apollonir's offer, and so forth. They had _all_ pertained to events that had eventually happened.

If he told them all of the dream. . . then they would either start worrying excessively over him, or they would brush it off as if it were unimportant.

But he _knew_ it was important; he felt it deep in his bones, felt it nagging at his soul and snuffing out any other thought.

But he didn't want the Brawlers to worry about someone who would so callously abandon them.

And so he decided what he wanted to do.

Dan shrugged slightly. "I could be better." Even his voice sounded hollow to him, as if all his emotion had been sucked out of him.

Drago turned his plastic body towards Dan. "_Do you want to. . . talk about it?"_

Dan shook his head. "No," he sighed, resting his head against the wall. "I think I need to. . . figure it out myself."

Drago was silent for a moment. Even with the dragonoid's new plastic form, Dan could still feel the Bakugan's gaze boring into him, as if wondering if Dan was lying to him.

Just when Dan thought that Drago was going to call him out, Drago answered, albeit carefully, "_Okay. I trust you."_

Dan's eyes shot open in surprise, and the Pyrus brawler shot the Bakugan a wide-eyed look. "Wait, really?"

Drago bobbed his tiny head before the movement slowed. "_Unless you _want _me to -"_

"No, no, it's okay." Dan let his head relax against the wall and closed his eyes. "I just thought that you would push a little bit more."

"_Hmph."_

With those words, human and Bakugan fell silent. Within the silence, Dan was left to nothing but his thoughts on the dream, as well as the reflection he had seen in the mirror when he tried to soothe his restless mind.

Alone with his thoughts.

How ironic.

* * *

"Let's see what you're _really_ made of!" Jaxon brandished his own Bakugan.

Dan stared at Jaxon, now wondering _how_ he got into this position.

Then the memories came back to him.

By the time he returned to the dining room, all of the Brawlers had finished their food and had dispersed to their activities.

All but one.

Dan had stared at Jaxon, who was glaring back with a dark expression. Before the red-eyed man could say anything, Jaxon was in his face. "So," he had hissed. "You think you're _better _than me?"

Dan frowned, confused at the teen's sudden change in demeanor. "What are you talking about?"

"_Don't_ play dumb with me," Jaxon growled, taking a step forward. Dan automatically took a step back. "I've seen the way they act around you. They trust _you_ more than they do me." He narrowed his eyes at Dan. "So what is it that they see in _you_ that they don't in me?"

Dan fought down the urge to spit an insult towards the other Pyrus brawler, although it was so hard, considering how petty the teen was being. "I don't know," Dan answered, allowing only a hint of hostility in his tone. "Why don't you ask them yourself?"

A wrong move.

Jaxon just about exploded in Dan's face. "YOU _DARE_ LOOK DOWN ON ME, THE GREATEST PYRUS BRAWLER IN THE WORLD?!" he roared.

"More like the greatest _bragger_ in the world," Dan muttered. As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, he wanted to beat himself. _Idiot, idiot, IDIOT._

_Do you _want _him to be your enemy?_

Jaxon narrowed his eyes, looking at Dan with a murderous glare. For a second, Dan actually thought that Jaxon would attempt a murder, right there and then.

Then the teen turned away. "Brawl," he spat. "Ten minutes."

Before Dan could even blink, Jaxon was gone.

And here he was now, facing off against the petty Pyrus brawler.

"Bakugan -" Dan's head snapped up at Jaxon's proclamation. "- brawl!

"Gillator, stand!"

A flash of red light, and then a huge, reptilian creature leaped to life. If an alligator had been crossed with a wolf, then it would look like this Bakugan that Dan was laying eyes on; with a reptilian snout and scales, along with a hunched back and strong, powerful legs, it was quite the sight to behold. It arched its back. "_Ready to take you down!"_ he growled.

"_Pyrus Gillator: 800 B-power."_

Dan flicked Drago in the air before reeling his arm back. "Bakugan, _brawl!_"

His partner flew out of his hand, clattering towards a red BakuCore. "Drago. . ." Drago halted on the BakuCore before unfolding. "Stand!"

"_Rrrraauuuugghhh!" _A tornado of fire whirled to life before Drago snapped his wings outward, dissipating the firestorm.

Movement flickered at the edge of Dan's eye, and he turned to see three recruits sitting in the stands: Kurgo the Darkus Brawler, Shinto the Aquos Brawler, and Feng the Ventus Brawler. While Shinto and Feng wore looks of intrigue, Kurgo looked distinctly nervous, his eyes darting from Dan to something else. Following his gaze, Dan saw that Kurgo was looking at Jaxon.

Dan frowned to himself. _Why?_ There was nothing to be nervous about, as far as Dan could see. Jaxon may be akin to an arrogant, petulant child, but there was nothing _dangerous_ about him.

Then again, Dan mused to himself, if he _beat_ Jaxon. . .

But there was no time to think about it; he had to focus on the battle. He turned his attention back to the battle just as Jaxon flicked out a card. "Ability activate!" he shouted. "Lava Lash!"

A tendril of fire curled out of Gillator's mouth, and the Bakugan snapped his head to the side. The whip of fire snapped around Drago's leg, eliciting a roar of pain from the winged Bakugan and causing him to crash.

"Drago!"

"_Pyrus Gillator Ultra: 1050 B-power. Pyrus Dragonoid Ultra: 900 B-power."_

"I'm not done yet!" Jaxon whipped out another card. "Ability activate! Lava Spray!"

Gillator inhaled deeply before his breath exploded out of his mouth in a spew of liquid fire. Drago leaped into the air, although his tail was singed, causing the dragonoid to falter slightly in the air.

"_Gillator Ultra now at: 1150 B-power."_

_I gotta do something fast, before Drago's toast!_ Dan whipped out a card. _This should do the trick!_ "Ability activate!" He held the card up. "Firestorm!"

Drago launched himself into the air and threw his head back before fire burst from his mouth. A huge blast shot up close to the fireproof ceiling before exploding into raining fire.

"_Dragonoid Ultra now at: 1200 B-power."_

"_Agh!"_ Fire rained down on Gillator, who thrashed in agony as the white-hot embers made contact with his skin.

"_Gillator Ultra now at: 1000 B-power."_

"NO!" Dan started slightly at the shout and turned as Jaxon brandished another card; the look in the other's eyes was nothing he's ever seen; it was a mix of hatred and murderous intent, an inferno of raging emotions that were all concentrated towards Dan.

For the first time in a long time, Dan was truly afraid for his own life.

"Never," Jaxon snarled. "I will _never_ be defeated by someone as low as _you._" He lifted the card in his hand. "Ability activate! Flame Wave!"

"_Gillator Ultra now at: 1600 B-power."_

Dan stared at his BakuPod in dismay. _How_ was he gonna be able to beat an enemy as powerful as that?

A wave of liquid fire formed in front of Drago's reptilian opponent, building higher and higher until it was about to crash down on them.

"Ability activate!" Dan crowed, flicking out a card in a desperate attempt to keep Drago from being harmed. "Pyrus Heat Shield!"

A huge, hexagonal shield formed right in front of both Drago and Dan just as the Flame Wave crashed over them. Even though Dan could feel the intense heat radiating off of the ability effect, the shield didn't budge an inch, effectively keeping the lava from incinerating him and Drago.

When the wave finally subsided, the shields cracked before disappearing in a flurry of red sparks. Dan checked his BakuPod: Gillator was at 1600 while Drago was also at 1600.

_Man, this is a close battle._ "You okay, Drago?"

"_Yeah, thanks to your quick thinking."_ Drago turned his head towards the human. Dan thought he saw a glimmer of gratitude. "_Thank you. . . partner."_

Dan chanced a glance at Jaxon and was nearly knocked off his feet from the force of Jaxon's glare. "No," Jaxon snarled. "I will _not_ be beaten by _you!_"

Dan bit down on an insult that had formed on his tongue and instead tossed a card in the air. "Drago! Ability activate!"

"_Twisting Inferno!"_

Drago breathed in deeply opening his maw wide and unleashing a whirling spew of fire towards the reptilian Bakugan. Dan watched, awed, as the head of the blast transformed into a silhouette of a dragon's head as it sped towards Gillator.

The explosion was mighty, the tremors enough to nearly knock Dan to the ground. When the dust cleared, there stood Jaxon with Gillator in ball form at his feet. As his head was tilted down, Dan couldn't see the teen's expression.

Drago disappeared in a flash of red light, dropping into Dan's palm. _What was going to happen now?_ he wondered. He doubted that Jaxon would take the loss particularly gracefully, _especially_ since he had been bragging that he was the best. Dan glanced back up and balked.

A fire of rage and hatred had ignited in Jaxon's dark expression. His eyes were shadowed, making him look absolutely _murderous._ Dan noticed that the teen's right fist had curled tightly. "No." Jaxon spoke so quietly that Dan almost didn't catch it.

"Jaxon?" Dan tentatively approached the teen. The latter's head remained bowed, and he was shaking in a way that concerned the red-eyed man. "Hey, Jaxon, are you all -"

"NO!"

Pain exploded in Dan's face.

He stumbled away from Jaxon with a strangled yelp of pain, his hand automatically coming up to his mouth. He could taste the familiar copper tang of blood as his lips and nose throbbed heatedly.

A fist slammed into Dan's ribcage, causing the older Pyrus brawler to collapse into a ball on the floor, automatically covering his neck as blows rained down on him.

A punch to the head. A kick to his ribs. A vicious hammerfist to his temples. Jolts of agony shot through him as Jaxon landed blow by blow, leaving him unable to see in the haze of pain except for a dark, rainy night.

_Lightning flashed, illuminating the sky. Still, he could only see the silhouettes of the gang in front of him, particularly the leader. Even so, the leader's grin was still discernible, even in the stormy night._

_He couldn't help but shiver at the leader's cold, amused tone. "We'll show you what happens when you decide to pick a fight with us." He could _hear _the leader's sadistic grin stretched wider. "Ain't that right, gang?"_

_Cue rowdy laughter. Dan curled even more inwards, hating the feel of helplessness that plagued him. He _hated _it, hated how he couldn't defend himself, hated the fear and the hatred that overwhelmed him yet left him unable to change anything about his situation._

_The leader gestured to a particular gang member. "Finish the boy off," he commanded coldly._

_The gang member flicked out a ball. Dan's stomach dropped with dread. _It couldn't be. . .

_But it was._

_The gang member reeled his arm back -_

And a hand slammed down onto Dan's shoulder.

The Pyrus brawler took a second to realize that someone was screaming. A beat later, Dan realized that _he_ was the one who was screaming.

"_DAN!"_

"Kuso? _Kuso! Snap out of it!_"

Dan finally heeded the voice, halting the stream of noise that had poured from his mouth. For a moment, he lay there, panting (who knew that screaming could take up so much breath?) and trying to _breathe, just breathe, you're okay._

He lifted his head weakly, regarding the owner of the voice. ". . . Kurgo?"

The Darkus brawler offered Dan a twitch of his lips, although he looked kinda spooked. Disturbed.

Dan suddenly realized that blows were no longer raining down on him. He looked over to see Shinto and Feng who, impressively, managed to restrain the frothing-at-the-mouth teen who was _still_ trying to get to Dan.

A shudder went down his spine. Lightning flashed in his mind, but Dan forcefully shoved it away and stood, albeit slightly shakily.

Kurgo was studying him with a hint of concern. "You good there?"

Drago rolled out onto Dan's shoulder and popped open. "_Yes, are you alright?"_ A dark note entered his tone. "_When I get my hands on that boy. . ."_

"I'm fine, Drago," Dan quickly assured him. "Just a little. . ." Dan paused. What should he say that would effectively convey how he felt? ". . . shaken up."

Drago hummed skeptically, but before he could say anything, the doors to the BakuTrain Simulators opened, and in rushed Shun, Runo, and Alice. "We heard a commotion! What was -" Shun halted, eyes wide, as he took in the scene of Jaxon being restrained by Shinto and Feng, and Kurgo standing next to Dan, who was very sure that he looked severely beaten up.

Shun strolled over to Kurgo. "What _happened_ here?" he demanded.

Feng spoke. "Lil' Jaxon here -" She jerked her head towards the Pyrus brawler, who snarled at her nickname. "- decided it would just be _grand_ to attack Kuso over there."

Shun's eyes narrowed. He was in front of Jaxon in an instant, grabbing the Pyrus brawler's chin and yanking it up. "Is it true?" the ninja growled.

Jaxon only stared back with defiant eyes.

Dan jumped as someone laid a hand on his shoulder. He whirled to see Alice, who was regarding him concernedly. "We should take you to the medical bay to look at your bruises and cuts," she offered. "Come with me."

As Dan reluctantly trailed after the red-haired girl, he brushed past Runo. For an instant, they locked eyes with each other. In her emerald-green eyes, Dan saw shock in them, as well as a mix of other emotions he couldn't decipher.

He wanted to say something, _anything_, but the words were caught in his throat and he could only stare helplessly at her.

Then the moment broke as soon as he stepped through the doors.

Away from Jaxon.

Away from the memories.

Away from his thoughts.

Away from Runo.

* * *

**A/N I just want to let everyone know that THIS IS NOT A DanxShun STORY!**

**Shun is acting overly protective of Dan right now because Dan had just gotten back into his life after 3 years, only for Shun to realize that Dan isn't the same as he was before. Obviously, if your best friend had changed to the point of being drastically different, you would also probably be a little protective of them, especially if someone makes remarks about it.**

**RTQC: If you were to choose a Bakugan (any, be it from Bakugan Battle Brawlers or Bakugan Battle Planet), which would you choose as your partner?**

**I would choose Aquos Hydranoid from Battle Planet, mostly because it's the only, like, actually good native-Aquos Bakugan XD**

**I hope y'all enjoyed! Please be sure to leave constructive criticism and reviews!**

**Stay safe!**


	8. Confrontations

**Response to reviews:**

**ploiuiu: 3 AM? Wow, you must _really_ be excited about this story XD / Yeah, overprotective!shun just _happened_ to come about, but I was afraid that some people would interpret it as a Dan x Shun story when I was trying to make it a Dan x Runo (or Kusaki, whatever you prefer) story (as you will see later). / Screaming? Do you just _really_ like my story? If so, then thanks! / That's a _lot_ of "omg"s XD (That's not a jab, just an observation) / Wow, you left a review in the middle of reading? / No need to apologize! It's good to see someone who's really invested in this story!**

* * *

"Why did you leave?"

Dan started slightly, turning with a raised eyebrow towards a certain blue-haired girl. Runo was leaning in her seat on the bench, gazing at him with an inscrutable expression that unsettled him. He could take angry Runo, exasperated Runo, even enraged Runo (now _that_ was a scary one).

But unreadable Runo?

Now _that_ he didn't know how to deal with.

For a moment the two just stared at each other; Dan, who was a couple feet away from the park bench, and Runo, who had risen from the bench and was now crossing her arms, silently awaiting his response. Drago, for once, was silent, as if thinking that the two former. . . what? Former lovers? That didn't sound right to Dan. The terms felt foreign.

Hmm, maybe friends? Friends. That's a lot safer, for _him_ at least. Maybe Drago thought that they could hash this out by themselves?

But Dan didn't want to deal with anyone, least of all Runo; he just wanted to be left alone. When the Pyrus brawler had snuck out of the infirmary, he took quite a bit of pain in covering up his tracks.

Apparently, it wasn't good enough.

As he gazed into her green eyes, he found himself at a loss for words. How could he tell her? How could he put into words the overwhelming sense of failure, not just as a brawler, but as a friend? As a team member? How could he talk about his inability to consider the consequences before he acted, putting everyone he cared about in danger?

He couldn't.

So he didn't.

"Worried, much?" His voice sounded hollow, even to himself. "Why don't you go take care of _Jaxon?_"

As soon as he said it, he immediately wished he could take it back.

Runo's eyes flashed dangerously, but her voice remained eerily calm. "He's being interrogated by Shun and Marucho right now." She paused. "What Kurgo is claiming is a serious charge."

"Oh," was all Dan could muster.

She uncrossed her arms and pushed herself upright. "Now answer _my_ question." Her eyes felt as though they were boring into Dan's soul. "_Why_ did you leave?"

Again, Dan had nothing to say in answer to her probing question.

He turned away wordlessly, beginning to walk away from the Haos brawler. Before he knew it, a hand slammed onto his shoulder (_pain shot through him as a claw dug into his shoulder_) and a voice screeched, "Oh, no you don't!" before he was whirled around, forcing him to stare into enraged emerald eyes.

_There's the Runo I know._

Still, his mind superimposed a face, twisted with sadistic intent, his mouth twisted in a sneer but his eyes as cold and as furious as Runo's.

Unconsciously he flinched away from Runo, turning his head to the side and squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to make the images _go away, just go away!_

But without Runo's face eclipsing the image, it revealed itself in its full glory, gloating at Dan.

_I'm not that easy to get rid of_, the face said, its expression forever twisted into that same look that would haunt him to the end of his life.

"Dan?" Now Runo's voice took on a concerned tone. "Are you. . . are you alright?"

At her voice, Dan snapped his eyes open, willing the mask of impassiveness to meld with his features, leaving nothing on his face. "I'm fine," he replied monotonously, which made him cringe internally. If anything, _that_ would be a dead giveaway that he was lying.

Screw his lying skills.

Now Runo was gazing at him with narrowed eyes. For a moment, Dan wondered if Runo was going to scream at him, hit him, do _something._ He cringed away from her, just _waiting_ for her to explode.

"Kuso," she said slowly, "you are a _terrible_ liar."

Well, she wasn't _wrong._

Drago suddenly rolled out, popping to life on Dan's shoulder. The red-eyed man nearly jumped; he'd forgotten that Drago was even present, with how unusually quiet the Bakugan had been. "_Is it happening again?"_

Runo glanced between the two, her eyes gradually narrowing. _Oh no._ Dan could practically _see_ her mind trying to work out what they were talking about.

"What is this '_it_' you're talking about, Drago?"

Before the Bakugan could say anything, a throat cleared from behind. Dan whirled around, nearly knocking Runo away and eliciting a "Hey!" from the girl.

But it didn't matter.

The Haos brawler he had battle before, along with someone new: a brown-haired teen dressed in a gold-colored leather jacket with a black shirt underneath, white sweatpants, and sneakers. A baseball cap hung casually on his head.

The light glinted in the teen's eyes, and Dan sucked in a breath. They were an unnatural gold that only seemed to accentuate the teen's sharp, almost cruel features. They were hard with determination and a sadism that was all-too familiar, sending shivers down the Pyrus brawler's spine.

The Haos brawler spoke next, his voice a rumble. "We've a score to settle with you, Daniel Kuso." His lips curled in a sneer. "Why don't you and your girlfriend brawl me and Chrysos?" He jerked his head towards the cruel-eyed teen.

"Yes," the other teen agreed; his tone sent shivers down Dan's back. "Why don't we? I would be. . . _interested_ to get to know that fine young lady over there." Chrysos leveled a gaze towards Runo, which sparked with some sort of. . . hunger.

Immediately, Dan's senses were on high alert. All his instincts screamed at him to end the teen, here and now, with the battle and rip Chrysos apart for trying to make a pass at Runo. But the calm, collected voice of reason, the utterance of logic and sense shouted at his other instincts to quiet down.

Dan complied, shoving down the chaotic firestorm of emotions that were raging in him, to just _think_ for a moment.

Should he engage in the brawl? He had this feeling that they were trying to bait them into doing something. . .

_But what?_

"_What do you think we should do?" _Drago asked quietly, his plastic head pointed towards the brawlers but his words directed at his partner. "_For some reason, they make me. . . uneasy."_

"Yeah," Dan muttered. He studied the brawlers. If he could figure out what they were trying to plan -

His thought train was cut short when Runo pulled out her own Bakugan, her eyes narrowed in anger. Panic welled in his throat at the fire in her eyes. Of _course_ Runo was going to be aggravated about the challenge, as well as (potentially) Chrysos acting like a creep; what else should he have expected?

"Who're _you_ looking at?" Runo shot at the gold-dressed brawler, who was still staring at her with his creepy smile. "Dan and I can take you on!"

Dan gazed at her, eyes wide with panic. There were a million thoughts of protest that ran through his head. _We didn't even _talk _about engaging in this battle!_ And yet Runo was already speaking so confidently, as if they've mutually agreed to take them on.

Runo shot him a narrowed-eyed glare (which she seemed to be doing quite recently). "Kuso, we. Are. Battling. Are you gonna help me or not?"

His body was on autopilot now. Dan watched helplessly as his fingers automatically pulled Drago out of his pocket, felt his arm muscles flex and contract as he thrust it into the sky, tasted the words "Bakugan brawl!" as they left his mouth.

He supposed that when all else fails, brawling instincts have immediately taken control.

Sadly, he hasn't been proven wrong yet.

The iridescent dome billowed around them, pushing innocent bystanders out of their battlefield and leaving only the four of them in the area. Two against two.

"I'll start," the Haos brawler sneered from across from Dan. "Bakugan, brawl!

"Eenoch, stand!"

A brilliant flash of white, and the gargoyle-like creature arose in with a roar that shook nearby buildings.

Runo smirked, flicking her Bakugan into the air. "You call _that_ a throw?" she scoffed. Her dismissive tone sent a warning shiver down Dan's back, but before he could say anything Runo was already reeling her hand back. "Bakugan brawl!"

Her partner rolled out onto a hexagonal BakuCore. "Sairus, stand!"

A flash of brilliant light, and the angelic dragon-like Bakugan rose. "_Ready when you are, milady!"_

"_Battle begins,"_ Dan's BakuPod droned. "_Haos Eenoch Ultra: 800 B-power. Haos Sairus Ultra: 1000 B-power."_

Runo's eyes flashed with a look that Dan didn't like; they were filled with a confidence bordering on arrogant, a look that said she believed she could take her opponent out with ease. A look that betrayed the belief that the battle was won before it had begun.

It was a look that Dan had seen so many times when he gazed at himself in the mirror.

It was a look Dan feared.

The Haos opponent snickered, drawing Dan's attention to him. "You think you're gonna win _that_ easily?" He flicked out his card. "Quaeso and I can take you and your little Sairus with ease."

Dan started at the name. At the same time, Drago floated next Dan's head. "_Did he say - ?"_

" 'Quaeso.' And I'm guessing," Dan added as he observed the Haos Eenoch roar in agreement with the opponent's words, "that it's _his_ name." He pointed at the gargoyle-like Bakugan as he spoke.

Drago grunted in agreement. "_I wonder what his name is."_ He bobbed his plastic head towards the Haos brawler.

Meanwhile, the brawler sliced his card through the air. "Ability activate!" he growled. "Holy Plasma!"

Once the command was shouted, the Haos Eenoch's wings began to glow. Quaeso arched his back, throwing his wings behind him, before throwing them forward again. The glow of the wings appeared to have been flung off, and the two glowing spheres came together to form one massive ball of pulsing energy, which shot towards Runo's Sairus.

"_Eenoch Ultra now at: 1200 B-power."_

Dan opened his mouth in warning when Runo whipped out a card of her own. "Oh, no you don't!" she hissed. "Ability activate!

"Haos Deflection!"

A blue forcefield-like projection formed in front of the angelic Bakugan. "_Haos Sairus now at: 1400 B-power."_

When the plasma sphere hit, an overwhelming _boom!_ filled the air. Dust billowed out, obscuring the battlefield.

Dan shielded his face as the strong winds from the explosion tore at him, whipping his clothes and swirling up dust. Even with the protection positioned in front of his face, his eyes watered at the sheer force of the gale.

When the dust settled, both the Haos Bakugan stayed standing, facing each other with fire in their eyes and passion in their soul to win for their partners.

"_Not bad,"_ the Haos Eenoch rumbled. His voice was low and gravely, filled with a coldness that sent chills down Dan's back. The Bakugan's unusual tone washed over the Pyrus brawler, filling his insides with ice.

Who knew that a Haos Bakugan could sound as dark as the night itself?

"_You're not too shabby yourself,"_ Sairus shot back. In contrast, her voice was melodic, a soothing calmness that was able to ease Dan's mind, bring back the pieces of his shattered mind back into a wholeness he hadn't experienced ever since the battle against the Mechtogan.

Scratch that, ever since the battle with _Naga._

He almost felt like his old self again; the days where he was young, oblivious to the cruelness of this world. The days where his and his friends' next worries were what chores their parents would make them do once they came back home.

The days where he felt like they could all live forever.

The Haos opponent cast his eyes down, but Dan noted that the man's lips quirked into a small, cold smile. "Impressive," he remarked. His eyes darted up to (Dan assumed) Runo. "You truly did catch me off-guard."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Dan realized what the Haos brawler was trying to do to the blue-haired girl; he was trying to rile her up so that when she attacks, it'll be out of rage, not strategy.

Which will mean she'll lose.

Drago apparently thought so too. "_Runo,"_ he warned, "_don't let him get to you."_

Runo shot the dragonoid an incredulous look before turning to face her opponent. "Why?" she challenged, her face twisted with fury. "Because I'm a _girl?_"

The Haos brawler examined the cards in his hands casually. _Too_ casually, in Dan's opinion. "Well, I'm just saying. . ."

"Now now, Artemas," Chrysos chided, although he wore a crazed, wicked grin on his face, his eyes glinting with a gleam that Dan didn't like. "I'm sure that she's _excellent_ at battling for a girl, even if she isn't as good as -" At that point, Chrysos turned to look at the Pyrus brawler. "- the master of brawling himself, Kuso."

_Oh no._ Dan finally realized what they were trying to do; they were trying to rile Runo up by comparing her with him and putting her out for her gender. And if there's something Dan knew, it's that Runo _hated_ being in the shadow of others, and she despised being put down because of her gender.

Runo brandished her Bakugan, her eyes ablaze with fury. "You wanna see just how '_excellent_' I can be?" she snarled.

To Dan's dismay, the Haos brawler's - Artemas' - eyes gleamed with triumph. "I'd like to see you try," he taunted.

Dan grabbed Runo's arm as she was about to fling Sairus back into the battle. "Runo," he pleaded, "just stop and listen for a second!"

Runo shot him a heated glare that startled even him; his grasp on her arm slackened, just for a moment.

That moment was all she needed; she shoved him away. "Get out of the way, Kuso!" she growled.

"Bakugan," both she and Artemas shouted, "brawl!"

"Sairus -"

"Quaeso -"

"- stand!"

At the simultaneously-shouted command, two flashes of white light erupted from the BakuCores, and the Bakugan rose, facing each other with eyes hardened with determination.

"Bakugan brawl!" Dan snapped his head towards the source of the command, and he watched in horror as Chrysos flung a brown-and-orange Bakugan onto a BakuCore. "Gorthion, stand!"

A flash of orange light, and a gorilla-like creature towered over the battlefield.

"_Battle begins. Haos Eenoch Ultra: 750 B-power. Subterra Gorthion Ultra: 500 B-power. Haos Sairus Ultra: 800 B-power."_

Dan quickly did the math in his head: if the two opponents were working together (which was almost guaranteed), then the battle sees a 1250 B-power against a measly 800 B-power.

_Runo has no chance against that!_ Besides, this was a tag-team brawl; if Runo wanted to stand up against a tag-team, she _has_ to tag-team along with him.

No matter how much she despises it.

"Bakugan brawl!" Dan could see Runo's head snap towards him, could see the flash of anger pass through her eyes. He kept his gaze on his partner as the Bakugan soared through the air, clattering to a stop on a BakuCore. "Drago, stand!"

Drago rose from the BakuCore in a flash of red light. He threw his head back and let loose a roar, shaking the entire battlefield.

"What are you _thinking?!_" A hand grasped the front of Dan's shirt and pulled, spinning him around to face Runo's fiery eyes. "I _have_ this!"

"Sure, you have this battle facing off against a tag team whose B-power combined is far greater than yours," Dan couldn't help but retort. Runo's hand went lax around Dan's shirt, allowing the Pyrus brawler to pull free from his human partner's grip. Still, she continued to glare at him.

"_A wise decision, Dan,"_ a melodic voice called from the battlefield. Both of them jumped and turned towards Sairus. A moment later, when Dan registered what the Bakugan had said, he peered at the Bakugan in shock.

"You think so?"

"_Yes. As much as I would hate to admit it, I cannot take those two -"_ She gestured towards Subterra Gorthion and Haos Eenoch. "_\- alone."_

Dan swiftly glanced at Runo. He half expected her to snap at her partner, to yell at him again for "intruding" on her brawl (even though it was _supposed_ to be a tag-team brawl, but he doesn't blame her for hating him; who wouldn't?).

To his surprise, Runo merely nodded, though she still didn't look happy. "If you're okay with it, Sairus, then I'm okay with it."

"Is this a _brawl_, or a snoozefest?" came a jeering voice from their opponents. Dan turned to see Chrysos sneering at them. "Or should I say, _lovefest?_" he mocked.

"That's _not_ what this is!" Runo screeched. Dan couldn't help the twist in his heart at her words, though he quickly squashed it down and wiped off any trace of it if it were lurking in his facial features.

He deserved it, after all.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt, Kuso." Chrysos grinned at Dan. Dan wanted to rip that smug smile right off of the Subterra brawler's face; it was just _begging_ for an eruption in Dan's temper. "Weren't you once. . . _close_ with her?"

_I know what you're doing,_ Dan snarled at Chrysos in his mind, _and it won't work!_ Even so, he couldn't stop the pang in his chest at the gold-clad brawler's words.

"Enough chit-chat!" Artemas gruffly commanded. Chrysos fell silent at once, although he kept shooting the Pyrus brawler smug looks. Dan gritted his teeth, willing his hackles to relax. "We've a battle to attend to, unless you've forgotten."

"Fine," Chrysos huffed.

"Ability activate!" Artemas held out a card. "Cycling Light!"

Eenoch shot into the air. He came to a halt, hovering for a moment, before spinning rapidly. With his action, he left a trail of light that spiraled down towards Drago and Sairus.

"Oh, no you don't!" Runo flicked out a card of her own. "Ability activate! Prism Blast!"

Sairus stretched both her arms upwards, her claw uncurled. Dan watched, awed, as two beams of white light shimmering with other colors converged together into one powerful beam that shot upwards, meeting Eenoch's own power.

Dan glanced at his BakuPod. To his relief, Quaeso's power level dropped from the boost the Bakugan got back down to the Eenoch's base power level. "_Sairus Ultra now at: 900 B-power."_

"_Sairus, if we are to win this, we must work together!"_ At Drago's words, Dan turned to Runo expectantly. Runo started, looking at him, confused.

Dan extended his hand. He knew what it meant, and _she_ knew what it meant. A simple thing, a handshake was, yet it contained so much meaning: an agreement to put aside past feuds in order to work together to accomplish a common goal.

Right now, that goal was defeating those two brawlers.

After a moment, Runo's eyes hardened, though not at Dan; rather, they were filled with determination to win.

She grasped Dan's hand and nodded, her emerald-green eyes filled with a fiery determination not unlike the times where Dan and she fought against Naga and Masquerade. Dan observed her wistfully; it was expressions like this that only seemed to accentuate her beauty, in his opinion. Seeing it on her again made him desperately miss those times, when it was just him, her, and a battle to decide the fate of the world.

When it was just them against the entire world.

"_Agreed,"_ Sairus answered.

"Well?" Runo offered Dan a smirk that made his heart somersault in his chest. "Shall we pummel them?"

Dan grinned wolfishly back. "You bet." He flicked out a card.

"Ability activate!" Chrysos and Dan both shouted at the same time.

"Subterra Body Slam!"

"Inferno Cannon!"

The gorilla-like Bakugan shot into the air at the same time flames burst from the core in Drago's chest in a whirlwind of fire, which the dragonoid aimed towards the Gorthion. As soon as the flames made contact, they slammed the gorilla backwards. There was a howl of agony as the flames ceased, revealing the gorilla falling back.

"Alright!" Dan couldn't help but cheer. He flashed a thumbs-up towards his partner. "Way to go, Drago!"

"_Sairus, you're up!"_

"On it! Ability activate!" Runo shouted. "Haos Control!"

Sairus shot into the air. At the same time, the sun seemed to pierce through the thick smoke onto Sairus' outstretched claw. She flung her other claw towards the Subterra Bakugan, and a beam of light erupted from her other claw towards the Bakugan, hitting him full-on. Amidst the brilliant beam of light, Dan saw a flash of orange. When Sairus finally relented on her attack, the gorilla was nowhere to be seen.

"_Subterra Gorthion eliminated from battle."_

"Yes!" Dan and Runo high-fived each other. He was ecstatic; _finally_, they were working together, just like in the old days!

_One down, one more to go!_ Dan turned to see Artemas yelling at Chrysos, who was looking equally ticked about the turn of events.

"_Let's finish this, Dan!"_

"_I'm ready to end this, milady!"_

Runo glanced over at Dan, mischief dancing in her eyes. Just seeing that look in her eyes brought a wave of nostalgia and yearning in him. "May I?"

Dan mockingly bowed, gesturing towards their remaining opponent. "But of course."

Runo flicked out a card. "Ability activate! Sting Laser!"

Sairus shot into the air and opened her jaw. Out shot a pure-white light that hit the Haos Eenoch straight in the middle of his chest, right where his core circle rested.

"_Aargh!"_

Artemas' head shot up. The Haos brawler's eyes widened in fury. "WHAT?" He fumbled for a card, but before he could, Dan beat him to it.

"Ability activate!" Dan pointed his card towards Drago. "Pyruscorch!"

Drago shot into the air and started hovering. His eyes began glowing a fiery orange. He threw his head back before flinging it forward again. Two beams of fire shot out of his eyes, colliding with Quaeso and pushing him back. The Haos Eenoch threw his arms up in a feeble attempt to stave off the heat. "_Aaaaaugh!"_

"Quaeso!"

With a final roar of pain that shook the battlefield, the Haos Bakugan disappeared in a flash of light. The white ball clattered to a stop in front of Artemas, who picked up his Bakugan with an inscrutable expression.

"Yeah! Dan, we did it!" Dan turned just as Runo flung her arms around him. Dan stiffened at the unexpected contact, unsure of how to respond.

Perhaps sensing Dan going rigid, Runo suddenly recoiled from him. "I - I'm sorry," she stammered. "I wasn't thinking. . ."

Dan swallowed against the painful lump in his throat, trying his best to flash Runo a reassuring smile. "It's fine," he replied, although something in him screamed that it wasn't, something that yearned for the closeness in that fleeting moment again.

Runo, looking uncertain, opened her mouth again, but right then there was slow clapping from the other side of the battlefield. Dan turned to see Artemas slowly lowered his hands to his side, his face devoid of any emotion. "Congratulations, Dan Kuso." The Pyrus brawler couldn't help the shiver that ran through him. The way Artemas said his name sent alarm bells ringing in Dan's head.

"I s'pose you beat us today," Artemas uttered tonelessly, his face (_blank, blank, blank_) still carefully impassive. "But mark my words, Kuso." A note of threat entered his voice. "The next time we meet again, you will not escape as easily as you had today."

With those words, both he and Chrysos turned and walked away. Dan shivered unconsciously, his hand brushing against his left arm, where a scar marked his skin underneath the cloth.

Whatever they meant, Dan thought with a foreboding dread, it didn't sound good.

* * *

"You never answered my question."

Dan paused at the set of doors that lead back into the base, shooting Runo a quizzical look. He couldn't recall any questions she had asked; his mind was brimming with the vague threat that Artemas had delivered. "What question?"

Runo rolled her eyes, although her lips twitched just the slightest. "Why did you leave?"

Immediately the amused mood vanished just as quickly as it had come. As if sensing it, Runo dropped her gaze to her shoes, while Dan bit his lip. He struggled to come up with even a vaguely coherent statement to give in answer to Runo's question. Finally, he just gave up and turned back towards the doors.

"It's not important."

Immediately, Dan realized he made a _grave_ mistake.

Runo's hand landed on Dan's shoulder and forcefully turned him around, leaving him to stare into Runo's ignited eyes. "That's not an answer!"

The camaraderie had all but completely vanished now. Runo's eyes narrowed angrily towards Dan. "We battled together," Runo snarled, "so we're a team now, whether you like it or not. The least you can do is tell me _why you left!_"

Though her anger unsettled him, Dan wiped the emotions right off his face, and he stared back impassively. "Just because we're a team," he responded monotonously, "doesn't mean I'm obligated to tell you any of my secrets, nor are you obligated to tell me _your_ secrets."

Runo looked scandalized, but before she could object, Dan held up his hand. He didn't want to drag this out unnecessarily. "Now, if you excuse me, _I_ should go get some sleep." He eyed her critically. "And I think you should too."

Runo snarled at him. "You don't get to tell me what to do."

"No," Dan agreed. He was _so tired_; why couldn't Runo see that? He didn't have the strength to deal with his emotions right at this moment. "But the same goes for you to me." With those words, he marched through the doors and away from the blue-haired girl, the girl who stole his heart when they were younger, the girl whom he abandoned when he left, the girl who was now twisting his emotions into a tangle of webs that even _he_ had a hard time trying to untangle.

His feet slowed when he approached his room; he had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice his feet had carried him all the way to his room. That's when Drago popped out of his form. _"Dan?"_

Dan shook himself out of his thoughts. "Yeah, Drago?"

_"Are you alright?"_

Dan paused for a moment, slowly trying to collect his thoughts. What should he tell his partner; he knew Drago probably witnessed the whole thing go down, but how should he answer? Should he tell Drago about the confusing emotions running through his head? Probably not, since he wasn't sure that Drago could help much in that aspect.

So he just settled for a, "Fine."

Still, as he entered his bedroom, he couldn't help but wonder, _When did this all go wrong?_

* * *

**A/N So, this ending came about _way_ differently than I thought it would. . .**

**Oh, well.**

**By the way, has anyone seen the reboot? I'm starting to watch more of it than the original series, and it's actually pretty good, in my opinion. But don't worry, I'll be brushing up on the original series in order to continue writing this story!**

**(don't look at me like that!)**

**RTQC: Which season of the original series is your favorite?**

**Even though I just watched the first and part of the second series, I really enjoy the first season better, because it's more localized to Earth and Vestroia instead of the characters investigating other planets and aliens XD Also, there are _way_ more DanxRuno moments in the first season.**

**So. . . constructive criticism and reviews appreciated!**


	9. To Sneak Into A Construction Site

**A/N So this is a little shorter than most chapters but hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Even with the blanket of night covering the sky, the city continued to bustle as life continued on as normal: the lights that punctuated through the darkness, the distant honks of cars as they sped down the highway, the laughter of those who decided to explore the city at night.

For a moment, as Shun watched the lights illuminating the vibrant city, nostalgia washed over him; he had almost forgotten what a regular life looked like. He was so focused on the Brawlers' missions that he disregarded anything that had been considered "normal life"; who among the Brawlers had time for a so-called normal life?

Now? Shun could see _why_ some of the Brawlers were drawn to that kind of life. Sometimes, he mused, life would be better if they didn't have to stay constantly on-call, waiting for the next mission to drop on by.

Just thinking of a normal life brought flashes to the Ventus brawler: of the times when he and Dan would just play-fight with each other over toys; of his ninja training, the moment the Bakugan left Earth; of being thrown into mission after mission after Dan left. Shun searched himself as a strange, unfamiliar feeling welled in him, a feeling that he couldn't place.

He shook himself out of his reverie in time to peer down at the sidewalk, some ways away from his tree yet still visible.

A kid was walking with his mother. Shun observed how the child looked up at her with shining eyes, how the mom chuckled as the son squealed in delight as he spotted a vibrantly-lit billboard, which was currently showing an ad. Shun felt a stab of envy; that kid had no idea how lucky he was.

Then the kid reached his hand towards his mother's, and she clasped it, almost tenderly, as they continued down the street. Shun couldn't help the wistfulness and sadness that swelled in his chest at the sight. Only seeing that just reminded him of another way of how he couldn't have a normal life. Not really.

For a moment - just a moment - all Shun wanted to do was sit up here, watching people with normal lives go about their business. For a moment, he dearly wished he could have one of _those_ lives. For a moment, all he wanted was that.

But he had a mission to complete.

Shun sighed. He shot one last look at the lit up buildings, the air that was filled with the joyful shrieks of children, his heartstrings tugging oh so _painfully_ in that direction.

And then he was off.

He streaked through the branches of the trees towards the AAAnimus digging site as quickly and silently as possible. Thanks to his insanely-intensive training, not a leaf was displaced from any tree as he hopped from branch to branch, as swift as the wind itself.

_Wind._ Heh.

The ninja paused periodically to take note of his surroundings before he continued on; he searched for specific landmarks he had memorized from the map to direct himself towards the AAAnimus excavation site.

Before he knew it, he was staring up at a metal fence that encircled the site. Drilling equipment was scattered everywhere on the grounds, all surrounding an area that even through the cover of darkness Shun could see had been draped over with a huge tarp. Shun estimated the diameter of the area was about 50 meters; not too big of an area.

For a couple of minutes he circled the area, eyeing the fence and gauging how much noise he would make if he were to attempt to climb the metal-laced barrier. Part of being a ninja is not letting anyone else know he was there, and though it was relatively late at night, Shun wasn't about to take any chances.

That was Dan's job.

At that line of thinking, Shun paused. _Well, it _had _been Dan's job._

Ever since Dan had agreed to return with Shun back to the city, Shun had seen a noticeable change in his old friend's personality. Dan had become a lot more withdrawn, spending more time alone than even Shun did, which Shun didn't know was even _possible._

Not only that, Dan had become much more. . . passive. Calm. Less eager to jump into a fight and more like an analyst assessing the situation from different sides. Shun had never seen such a drastic change in a person, from hot-headed and aggressive to cool and calm. He wouldn't have thought that Dan was even _capable_ of becoming like this.

Dan's personality didn't even resemble a Pyrus brawler's anymore. Pyrus brawlers were hot-headed, temperamental, cocky, and reckless, and Shun spoke from personal experience. They carried a flame of passion within them that they fueled through constant battling. That was the very essence of Dan's battling skills, and the flame had burned on, as far as Shun could remember. Even at their worst battles, even in the dark pits of hopelessness, Dan's fire had never been quenched.

Now? To the ninja, Dan's flame seemed nothing but a distant memory. What had once seemed to Shun an unconquerable fire had now been replaced by a spark surrounded by an ocean, a far cry from whom Dan had used to be.

And the way he jumped sometimes, the way he went into a daze. . .

He acted almost as if -

_No._ Shun shook his head, trying to banish the dark thought that had wiggled its way into his brain. He forcefully shoved the nagging thought into the back of his mind. He would _not_ consider it; not now, when it may potentially break himself.

Not when he had a mission to complete.

Shun wrestled with his thoughts for a moment before he slammed them into a cage. He imagined locking the cage before tossing said cage into a heavy-duty safe and sealing the vault.

Shun sighed once he deemed his mental security adequate, and he started studying the fence again, analyzing a way for him to get inside the fenced enclosure. As if something inside him were drawn to them, Shun idly regarded the trees.

Then it hit him. _Of course!_

He could use them to drop from the branches into the area!

Shun shook his head. _What's gotten into me?_ His once-unshakable focus had begun to drift away nowadays. He was finding it harder to pay attention to his surroundings and easier to sink into his elusive thoughts.

_Oh well._ Shun shook off his mental chastisement and ascended the nearest tree. Within seconds, he was within the enclosed site.

_Now, let's see what you're up to, AAAnimus. . ._ Shun began hunting around the equipment, especially the larger, drivable machines; Shun has found in his days of infiltrating bases that plans were often concealed, either in a drawer or cabinet. As this place was a construction site, Shun deduced that any plans the AAAnimus construction crew had were in these machines.

Machine by machine, he hopped into each one: drills, cranes (_why were there _cranes_?_), and diggers. He would slide into the cockpit, pop open a compartment, and start leafing through the bits of paper that was _almost_ guaranteed to be there. "No," he sighed, hopping off from a drill.

"Not that." Exit a crane.

"Where could they possibly _be?_"

* * *

Hours later (at least to Shun's deduction) and still _nothing._ _Where could they _possibly _put those plans?_ Overcome with frustration, the Ventus brawler let out an almighty yell and turned, slamming his fist into a backhoe.

Shocked even by his own actions, Shun backed away, staring at his hands. _What's _wrong _with me?_ Even when he got frustrated and angry, he tried to push it down and analyze the situation without interference with his emotions.

Now. . .

His thoughts were interrupted when the Ventus brawler saw something glinting in the moonlight. It was coming from something in the backhoe's loader bucket. Curious, he bent down and picked up the spherical object. It had a plastic feel to it, with rough edges in some parts and smoothness in others. Shun mused that the texture was similar to a Bakugan's ball form.

Shun won't deny it: he was curious. He wanted to know what this thing was, how it ended up in the construction site, and why it was here. He brushed off the dirt and turned the newly-exposed colors to the rays of moonlight that were shining through despite the clouds obscuring the moon.

And stared.

Nestled in his palm, glowing under the light of the moon, was a plastic ball. Most of it was colored a light blue, with highlights of ice-blue running all around it. Shun continued to examine the object, a feeling of dread rising up within him. _This looks just like a Bakugan. . ._

A horrible feeling began to surface inside Shun, and he turned the object over and over until he found what confirmed his suspicions: an Attribute symbol.

This symbol was unlike any of the actual Bakugan symbols. There were two parallel lines running vertically, with a jagged pattern on the top connecting the two lines. To Shun, the symbol was quite similar to an iceberg.

Shun stroked the symbol imprinted on the object - the pseudo-Bakugan, as he began calling it - while his mind whirled. This appearance was odd, to say the least. Why, thought the ninja, as he continued to roll the pseudo-Bakugan in his hand, would anyone create an almost-exact replica of Bakugan, but with different symbols? It didn't make sense.

Unless. . .

Shun's mind immediately tried to reject the theory. _But it makes sense._ What were the odds of a plastic ball that had something akin to an Attribute symbol turning up in _dirt_, no less? This occurrence was eerily similar to when some of the newer generation reported when they found their own Bakugan.

In contrast to when Shun and his friends found Bakugan via cards from the sky, kids all over the world were finding Bakugan emerging from the _ground_; even Shun found his Pyravian emerging from a well.

Shun sighed before pocketing the somewhat-fake Bakugan. For now, he would have to withhold that theory until he had further proof that this was truly a Bakugan.

Just as he was about to leap back into the safety of the trees, another glint caught his eye, this time near the tarp. He froze. _Is there something else there?_ It's strange enough that he found something that somewhat resembled a Bakugan. Even with his previous curiosity satisfied, his interest was piqued again.

Shun stared at the glinting object, curiosity warring with cautiousness. He wanted to investigate it, but at the same time his internal clock was warning him that the sun would rise soon. If he was caught in this area. . .

He glanced around, straining his senses in a bid to find out whether or not anyone was approaching the area. Minutes ticked by as he concentrated, trying to detect any movement. When all stayed silent, the ninja deduced that he was probably safe to take a look.

Shun knelt down, brushed the dirt off the object, and held it up to the moonlight. Shock pulsed through him as he registered what was right in front of him. _Another one?_ Indeed, there was _another_ plastic ball that had a symbol imprinted on it, this time noticeably resembling lightning.

Shun narrowed his eyes, his memory flashing back to what felt a long time ago, when Jaxon had reported the mysterious brawler.

"_What attribute were they using?" Shun asked._

_Jaxon spread his arms open. "How should I know? They were using lightning to blind me all the time!"_

Shun's breath caught in his throat. The Ventus brawler now knew _which_ attribute that masked brawler had been using, and it wasn't one of the regular attributes they were using.

That settled it, then. This object that he held in his hand. . . it _is_ a Bakugan.

Shun stared down at the second Bakugan he found, his mind whirling with a never-ending stream of thoughts. It _could_ explain why AAAnimus were digging _here_; they were bent on getting Bakugan, and what better way to do that than come to a site where they were plentiful, a site of which the Brawlers weren't even aware?

And yet. . . Shun couldn't help but feel as if there was something _more_ going on here. Yes, they were digging in an area where Bakugan were, but he still couldn't understand _why_ they were digging here. What was their purpose, when there were Bakugan all around them?

The ninja looked up, frowning as the clouds in front of the moon drifted away, revealing the full moon. _I better get moving into the shadows. Otherwise, someone'll spot me._ Just as he turned to go, he cast one last glance at the construction site.

What he saw made him balk in shock.

There were Bakugan _everywhere_, glinting in the moonlight. Some were scattered amongst the equipment; others around the obvious hole that had been tarped.

Shun's breath left him as he took in the scene. It seemed almost. . . _impossible,_ yet here they were, all concentrated in the same area as AAAnimus chose to drill into.

As he studied the scene, only one thought flitted through his mind:

_This. . . is far greater than we could've ever thought._

* * *

**A/N So. . . I apologize if the transitions were abrupt. My attention is divided right now, as I am looking into a Minecraft animation series I want to develop in the. . . far, _far_ future.**

**My focus is a little shot right now, so I hope you forgive this chapter.**

**Stay safe and stay alive!**


	10. A Plan Made

**A/N Many thanks to TopGun, for that review to remind me that although my interest might stray, SOME people's would still be focused on this story, as well as Insane Dominator's PM, which goes to show how people would still be interested in this.**

**I've been away far too long, and it's not the _best_ chapter, but just work with it for now.**

**And so, without further ado!**

* * *

Dan stared at his BakuPod long after Shun's face had disappeared from the screen. Whatever the Ventus brawler wanted to talk about seemed urgent; Shun had hastily ordered them to report to the meeting room to discuss his findings on AAAnimus' drilling site.

The Pyrus brawler fidgeted with the BakuPod, dread heavy in his chest. He wasn't keen on going to the meeting, partially—no, _mostly_—because he didn't want to deal with Runo. After their little fight last night, he didn't know which Runo would show her side: angry Runo? Icy Runo? Even cold-shoulder Runo.

There was a time when Dan knew _exactly_ what Runo had been feeling. That was back then, when Drago and the others had left, when all they had was each other. They grew to know each other from the inside out; he knew how she felt, and vice versa.

When did they drift apart, Dan found himself wondering. Was it when Drago returned, in a new body, pleading with him to leave Runo, Julie, and Marucho behind to help the Bakugan save New Vestroia? Was it when he left without so much a glance towards her as he moved to Bayview?

Dan sighed, suddenly feeling heavy as he rubbed his eyes. Even if he couldn't pinpoint the exact time where they began drifting apart, he knew for sure that one day, when he woke up, he and Runo were separated by a gaping chasm that had been cracking wider and wider with each passing day. His leaving the team only seemed to widen the maw.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Drago unfolded, regarding his partner with an aura of what Dan assumed to be concern. "_Dan, what are you thinking of?"_

"Mm?" Dan glanced at his Bakugan before turning away, absently thumbing the screen of his BakuPod. "Oh, nothing much."

"_You and I both know that you aren't telling the truth,"_ Drago reminded gently.

Dan glanced over at the Bakugan. He wasn't going to contradict his partner, but he wasn't going to divulge that information. But if he asked—

"_So would you like to tell me?"_

Aaaannnd there it was.

Dan played with the idea in his head as he continued to fiddle with his digital watch-like gadget. A part of him wanted to bemoan to Drago about his internal conflict regarding himself and Runo, but the other part of him figured that Drago couldn't help him with this issue.

"No," Dan answered finally.

Drago continued to regard him, which only served to make Dan uneasy. Why couldn't Drago see that all he wanted to do was to be left alone to his thoughts? He didn't _want_ anyone to pry into them because they were _his_ thoughts and his alone.

In fact, all he truly wanted was to be left alone.

"_Are you sure? If you want to_—"

"I'm fine." Dan bit his lip, wincing internally at how biting the words sounded. He felt bad for snapping at his partner, but he didn't want to open up. Not now, when he was so _confused_ about everything.

He needed to be in solitude to collect his thoughts.

Drago was silent for a moment, feeding Dan's growing fear that he hurt his partner's feelings. "_If you were truly fine, you would be at the meeting right now."_

Dan couldn't help but tense up at Drago's words, his body going on autopilot. "I can't."

"_Why not?"_

"I just—I can't, okay?" Dan turned his back on his partner, not wanting to deal with his confrontational Bakugan.

"_That's not an answer."_

Dan bit his lip again, struggling to keep his temper in check. _It's not his fault, _he reminded himself. _He's just worried about me._

Still, that internal reassurance didn't take away the fact that Drago was blatantly _not_ leaving him alone, when all he wanted to do was to _be_ alone. How could his Bakugan not see that, despite all Dan was doing to reject company?

Before Dan could do something he might regret, his door slid open. The Pyrus brawler looked up to see Marucho gazing at him, concern clear in the Aquos brawler's eyes.

"Dan? Are you coming down to the meeting?"

Dan felt trapped. He looked over to see Drago leveling a stern gaze at him, silently telling him to go one with Maurcho to the meeting. On the one hand, he really, really, _really_ didn't want to go. But if he refused, then the Brawlers might become worried. Well, judging by Marucho's expression, _more_ worried than they were already.

Which was greater?

Maybe Dan _would_ go down to the meeting, if only to get everyone off his back about not going. He reasoned this course of action would be best in the long run; if he didn't worry them, then they would leave him alone.

"Yeah," Dan muttered. Louder, he said, "Yeah, I'm coming."

Marucho only seemed to look even more concerned as he led Dan towards the elevator.

As they entered the mechanical door, Dan mentally steeled himself for the awkwardness that will inevitably permeate the air, _especially_ from Runo.

* * *

The moment he stepped out of the elevator and stepped into the meeting room, the voices that had been drifting around aimlessly ceased abruptly. Dan could feel the piercing gazes of everyone on him. He knew they were of worry and concern, but he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge any of them.

"Found him," Marucho murmured before he diverged from Dan, making to sit in what Dan reckoned was his chosen seat.

The former Pyrus brawler looked up to see Shun, whose stare held only a hint of concern, but most of his expression was that of stoicism. Good. Even if Shun is going to bother him, Dan reckoned the Ventus brawler would only do so _after_ the meeting.

Dan scanned the seats available. Klaus, Chan Lee, Julio, Joe, Komba were sitting to one side: honorary members of the Brawlers. On the far end, Jaxon and the Brawler Recruits were seated, with Jaxon glaring daggers at Dan. On the other side, all the original Brawlers, plus Billy (as he was sitting with his girlfriend Julie) were all seated together.

When his eyes passed over Runo, he instinctually stiffened, and from the way Runo straightened, she felt the tension too. After locking eyes for a moment, Runo decisively turned away, her expression nothing more than stoicism.

The Pyrus brawler saw Shun quirk an eyebrow. In his eyes was a clear question: _What's up with her?_

Dan shook his head ever so slightly, silently begging Shun to drop the matter. Luckily, the Ventus brawler seemed to comply, although his eyes warned Dan that the ninja was going to question the Pyrus brawler later.

Dan drifted towards the meeting table, decisively sitting in between Marucho and Alice. He knew that, of all the OG Brawlers, they were the least likely to bother him: they knew how to respect his space.

"So nice of you to join us," Jaxon drawled, only shutting up when the girl with the Ventus jacket—Feng, Dan recalled—jabbed him in the ribs. Still, that didn't stop the flinch from Dan, the rising guilt in his chest.

Still, a thought passed fleetingly through Dan's mind: _Why is _he _still here?_ Although he noticed, to his pleasure, that Jaxon had handcuffs around his wrists, and he was surrounded by the recruits, who all looked as though if Jaxon made one move, they were going to fall on him.

Shun gave Jaxon a critical glare, but he moved on with the meeting. "Let's begin now."

"What did you find?" Marucho asked, leaning forward as his gaze sparked in interest.

Shun moved forward until he was directly in front of the meeting table. He reached into his ninja robes and seemingly pulled out an object (Dan couldn't see what it was) and set it down on the table.

Dan's breath caught in his throat. Sitting on the table, right in front of Dan, was a Bakugan.

The thing was, this Bakugan had quite a different color scheme than Dan has ever seen: it mainly had a light blue color scheme, with ice-blue highlights on its surface. The Pyrus brawler then noticed the Attribute symbol on the Bakugan: two parallel vertical lines that were connected at the top with a jagged line, making it resemble a mountain.

_Or an iceberg._

Dan snapped out of his musings when Shun began speaking. "_This_ is the reason AAAnimus has been digging around in the area." He glanced at everyone gravely. "They found a hotspot for Bakugan like this one." He pointed to the new Bakugan. "But they've covered up the area they're drilling with a heavy tarp, so I don't know _what_ they're drilling for."

Marucho straightened his spectacles and leaned forward, observing the Bakugan. Dan noticed confusion flicker across the blond-haired boy's—no, Dan had to remind himself, _man's_ (as Marucho was in his twenties by now)—face. "But. . . this isn't a _real_ Bakugan," he pointed out. "This Bakugan isn't part of any of the actual Attributes."

That's when Dan saw an Aquos Bakugan pop out of Marucho's pant pocket. It unfolded and turned towards the Aquos brawler. Dan could see that the Bakugan was a crab-like creature. "_Are you sure about that, Marucho?"_

"Huh?" Shun leaned over, looking at the Aquos Bakugan. "What do you mean, Vicerox?"

Dan glanced around and saw that everyone was paying _especially_ close attention to Vicerox, much to his confusion; even Runo dropped her mask of impassiveness to lean in closer, her face flickering with awed curiosity.

Alice, perhaps sensing Dan's confusion, gently explained to him, "Vicerox doesn't usually talk often. He only does so if he believes it is necessary."

"And when he does," Marucho murmured, "then we better listen."

Vicerox turned towards Shun. "_What makes you think that a Bakugan must have the same attributes you are used to in order to be considered a Bakugan?"_

Caught off guard, Dan glanced around the meeting table. Practically everyone was looking stumped, save Jaxon, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but at the meeting as of the moment. "Well. . . doesn't it?" Julie was the one to break the contemplative silence by posing the question.

"_Not necessarily."_ Dan jolted in surprise as Drago shot out of the Pyrus brawler's pocket, unfolding. "_Remember, the White Ones didn't have an attribute symbol, yet were still Bakugan."_ Dan could've sworn Drago's voice caught slightly when he said, "the White Ones," and he saw Joe lower his head.

"But—" Dan snapped back to attention when Marucho's voice sounded. "—this Bakugan has a totally different Attribute. It's not like the White Ones, where they weren't affiliated with any Attribute."

"_Why not?"_ Runo's Sairus popped out and unfolded. "_It has the same aura as an actual Bakugan; the only difference is that it has a different Attribute."_

Dan stared at the Haos Bakugan; he wasn't all that familiar with the idea that Bakugan could sense other Bakugan. When he recalled instances where the Bakugan were fake—were robots, or at least partly robotic—none of the Bakugan could really sense it.

Drago seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "_You can sense whether or not it is a Bakugan?"_ he asked, surprised.

Sairus turned towards him. Dan could feel confusion pulsing through her. "_You can't?"_

Dan blinked. Then again, he _had_ isolated himself for so long from the Bakugan community. He had locked everything that had to do with Bakugan (save Drago, but Drago also knew better than to bring up past battles) in the back of his mind; it wasn't like he was going to be running around, asking Drago if the latter could sense whether or not there were other Bakugan in the area.

"Hmph," came a sneering voice. "A Bakugan who can't sense another Bakugan." Jaxon leveled a sneer towards Drago. "Another element of your _uselessness._"

Fury scorched through Dan, and before he knew it, he leaped up from his seat, gaze leveled angrily towards Jaxon. "You take that back _right now!_"

Jaxon actually looked _startled_, while everyone looked to be taken aback. "Dude." Shinto, the Aquos recruit, shook his head. "Not cool."

His comment was ignored, and Jaxon's shock transformed into a dark, challenging grin. "_Make_ me!" he goaded.

Dan balled his fist, wanting to punch the lights out of that arrogant brawler _right this instant_.

"_Dan, it isn't worth it!"_

He didn't care. He didn't care about what Drago had to say in the matter, didn't want Drago to _lie_ to him and tell him that _everything is alright_, because it _wasn't!_ Jaxon had insulted Drago! He had insulted Dan's best friend, Dan's partner! It was an unforgivable crime.

And the penalty? Jaxon's blood.

His brain, which had been frozen at Jaxon's sheer audacity, suddenly turned on.

_It's not worth it,_ the voice of reason tried to tell Dan. _Starting a fight now will only get you into trouble._

_I. Don't Care,_ Dan snarled back in his mind. _He insulted Drago!_

_You better listen to your voice of reason. _You _acted like this before, don't you remember?_

Flashes of the recklessness he used to display, flashes of how he would insult other players because he felt he was entitled to, and more, passed through his mind. Dan couldn't help the feeling of hypocrisy that was swelling in his throat, draining the fight out of him.

_What makes you think you can pick a fight with him when he's insulted your Bakugan, when you've insulted countless others' skills?_

Breathing heavily, Dan looked down at his hands, which were curled into fists. He slowly uncurled them, relaxing as the fight began draining out of him. _What makes me entitled to fight Jaxon after he insulted my Bakugan,_ he thought, _when others never fought me when I insulted _their _skills?_

Dan snapped back to reality when Shun yelled, "ENOUGH!"

He stared at his Ventus friend, astounded beyond measure. Shun _never_ yelled, not even when Dan was acting at his worst. And by the looks on the others' faces, his yelling was something that was entirely new to them too.

"Jaxon, sit down and shut your mouth! If you don't like being in the same room with Dan, then LEAVE!"

Dan watched, astonished, as Jaxon actually complied, shutting his mouth and sitting down. The Pyrus brawler noted a new emotion flashing in Jaxon's eyes.

_Fear._

"Dan." Shun wasn't yelling, but he wasn't exactly _gentle_ either. "You too."

Dan only glanced slightly over to Shun as his body automatically carried out Shun's command, sinking into the seat. The look in Shun's eyes scared him: they were filled with a deepset anger, a primal fury that Dan had _never_ seen before.

"We need to focus! We can't have you blowing up the place right now!" Shun turned away, pacing. "AAAnimus—" He tapped on a map on a board, his finger pointing at the park. "—is planning something, and we need to figure out what it is, and why they decided to dig _specifically_ in the area where these new Bakugan are!" He glared at everyone at the meeting table, but most notably Jaxon. "We don't have time for your petty rivalries!"

Dan saw resentment flash in Jaxon's eyes, but the Pyrus "master" slumped over in his seat, apparently unwilling to conflict with Shun again.

The Ventus ninja only gave a curt nod. "Any plans, anyone?"

The former Pyrus brawler suppressed the rising guilt in his chest; Shun was right. Dan had to set aside his pettiness to think of the greater good: the Bakugan that were being used by AAAnimus, as well as the company's shady plots.

But how could they find out what _exactly_ they were up to?

As if reading the Pyrus brawler's mind, Runo raised a hand. "We could infiltrate their base," she offered. "See what they're up to."

Shun was already shaking his head. "It's too risky," he pointed out. "We don't have the resources or people to pool together in order to validate it. As beneficial it may be, if they found out what we're up to. . ."

Nobody needed him to complete the sentence. Dan frowned deeply, leaning back in his chair as he contemplated the most viable options. Since Shun had already crossed off _spying-on-them-from-the-inside_, Dan had very few options that he could think of.

_Argh, why can't I _think_?!_ Maybe the conflict between himself and Jaxon was interfering with his ability to analyze the best possible solution. Upon reflecting that idea, Dan felt shame wash over him: he shouldn't have let his emotions run away from him; he _knew_ better than to do that.

Because the _many_ times he let it happen nearly got him and his friends killed.

The most recent time nearly got _him_ killed.

_I haven't changed at all._

Dan was roused from his brooding when Marucho piped up. "Why don't we investigate the actual site during the day, when they're working?" he asked.

Shun stared at him as if he were nuts. In fact, a lot of the people around the table were murmuring over Marucho's suggestion, with a loud, "So a suicide mission, then," from Killian, the Subterra Recruit.

As everyone exploded into arguments, Dan sunk deeper into his seat, calculating the probabilities in his mind. Of course, it _sounded_ suicidal. Dan was pretty sure it _was_ suicidal!

But if the scenarios he laid out in his mind were correct. . .

"Actually, I think Marucho may have a point."

Everyone snapped his/her head towards Dan. He flinched slightly at the sudden direction of attention towards himself; to ease the tension, he turned towards Shun. Though Shun had a stormy look in his eyes, his expression at least conveyed his curiosity. "Do go on," Shun encouraged.

Dan took a deep breath. "It sounds crazy," he began, "and I should know—I'm the _king_ of crazy ideas." A few people chuckled at the self-deprecating joke, which made Dan's heart a few notches lighter. Just a few, though. "But think about it: if we find out what _exactly_ they're trying to dig for, then we may figure out what their plans are. And it doesn't have to be _right_ in the middle of their construction, either." Dan turned towards Shun. "You said they have a tarp covering over the hole, right?"

Shun nodded slowly, as if wondering what Dan was getting at.

"Well, during the day they're _bound_ to take it off in order to continue their work," Dan continued. "So, if you watch them from afar, and, say, they're going on lunch break. . ."

"Then we can sneak into the construction site—" Marucho's eyes brightened as the Aquos brawler caught on to what the Pyrus brawler was implying. "—and explore the hole."

Dan turned towards Shun, who surprisingly didn't look against the idea. In fact, he was nodding slowly, considering the proposition. "I think it might actually work," he conceded finally. "But we have to have a small team; the smaller the better." He shot a meaningful glare towards Jaxon. "And with people," he growled, "who know how to _keep their mouths shut_."

Jaxon opened his mouth, looking incensed, when Kurgo, the Darkus Recruit, nudged him in the ribs. Jaxon looked over at him, and Kurgo subtly shook his head, as if warning against what Jaxon was about to say.

Jaxon huffed, slumping over in his seat and folding his arms as he angrily sulked.

Shun nodded curtly, looking—not relieved, Dan crossed out; more like satisfied (though what did _he_ know? Shun barely displays emotions as is; he had on a poker face as of the moment).

(_or you have been away for too long, and you no longer know him_)

"Very well." Shun cast a critical eye around the table. "Since I was the one who went there first, then I'll be the one to lead the mission. Who would like to go along with me?"

Not wanting to go along on a mission (he just wanted to be alone), Dan tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, shrinking into his seat and not making eye-contact with the Ventus ninja. Even then, he could feel Shun's burning gaze on him, as if expecting the Pyrus brawler to leap up and scream, "I'LL JOIN YOU!"

. . . Yeah, no way.

The clearing of a throat drew everyone's attention to the source. Much to Dan's surprise, Killian—the Subterra Recruit—stood, nodding towards Shun. "If I may," he began, "I would like to join you on this. . . spy mission."

Shun only nodded, the hard look in his eyes melting slightly. "Welcome to the team," he said finally, turning to scan the remaining crowd. "I could probably take at most two more people along with me," he added, not-so-subtly glaring at Dan. The Pyrus brawler only ducked his head even more, unwilling to give in.

"_Dan and I will go with you, Shun."_

"Wha—?" Dan jerked his head up in shock, staring at his Bakugan partner. "Drago!"

"_What?"_

Dan was horrified; he _vowed_ not to get involved so deeply with these shenanigans. Sure, Shun asked him to help the Brawlers, but after that Dan was through with the whole Bakugan business. Even when telling Shun he'd help, he wasn't talking about _charging_ into a Bakugan battle! He wanted to be a sideliner, someone who _only_ steps in when a full-time member of the Brawlers was incapacitated.

That way was safer, not just for him (_lightning flashing, inhuman roars_), but for the people around him.

Because all he ever does is charge into battle.

And all it ever does is hurt the people closest to him.

Before Dan could rescind Drago's volunteering them, Shun smiled for the first time since Dan had decided to (somewhat) rejoin the team, but his eyes held a hint of puzzlement, as if wondering why _Drago_ had to be the one to volunteer Dan. "Nice to have you on the team, Kuso." He turned his attention back to the team. "Now, I can probably take one more person with me."

There was a beat of silence for a moment before Fyero hops up, his eyes shining with determination. "I would like to go!" he declared firmly.

Shun's eyes brightened considerably; the young ninja actually looked _eager_, which surprised Dan. Shun never gets easily excited. "Excellent!" He clapped his hands together before seemingly remembering the stoic impression he had to uphold, and the Ventus brawler's expression smoothed over into an emotionless mask (_hide it, they don't want to know_). "We shall leave early tomorrow."

Dan suppressed a groan, sinking far into his chair and draping his arm over his eyes, unbelieving of the turn of events.

So much for being alone with his thoughts.

* * *

**A/N I just wanted to incorporate some humor in this along with some angst, because the best stories have all kinds of aspects to it.**

**But I digress.**

**I wouldn't know if you guys cared, but fun fact: the original draft of this chapter was that Baron Leoltoy was going to come to Earth and tell the team of disturbances in New Vestroia, which would then cause Drago to freak out and rush through the portal, causing Dan and Marucho to chase him, and—**

**Basically, it was gonna be a callback, albeit a messy one.**

**But then I looked through the outline I made and realized that (and this will be as spoiler-free as possible) this little side plotline in NO way contributes to the actual plot, and so I scrapped the idea _at the very last second._**

**So, *whew* I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Constructive criticism appreciated!**

**Stay safe!**


	11. AN Apology

**I'll have to start off and say I owe you guys a bit of an apology. I haven't really been feeling it with Bakugan lately, which mostly contributes to why I haven't updated yet. I'd rather give you something that is what I poured my heart into rather than something that was only created half-heartedly.**

**The _other_ factors are that I've recently gotten into voice acting, and I managed to land myself some roles. The problem is, however, that the director didn't really have a _story_ in mind, per say, and so I took up writing for him. Apparently, it's a weakness XD**

**_Also_, now I've been enlisted as a Minecraft Fight Animator for… something else. So, right now I'm more invested in _that_ fandom than this one, so… yeah.**

**Yeesh, I have a lot of stuff to do.**

**Once again, I'm sorry, guys. Your kind words have really been appreciated, but for now this story may have to be put on hold until I get back into the rhythm for this fandom. If I do, then I _will_ continue writing. If not, well… we'll see where we go from here.**

**Don't consider this a goodbye. Consider this merely a "See you later."**

**~Northern Goshawk**

**P.S. If I _do_ update again, I'll post it as a new chapter to alert you guys before I take that and replace it with this chapter. Whether or not you won't see this note... is up to what happens next.**


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